Homestuck: The Legend Continues
by LiamX315
Summary: The story of a group of friends and the game they play. This story is about me, my friends, and our adventures though the world of Homestuck in our own session. I make NO promises about upload dates, they may be as sporadic as the actual comic itself is
1. Let's Meet our Heroes

**Homestuck: A story of a group of Friends and the Game they Play...**

We open on a young man, in his early twenties. He is currently reclining in a computer lab, possibly belonging to a university.

Enter name: Lazy McBoring.

You roll your eyes at this suggestion, who gives that voice in your head the right to call you such names?

Enter name: Collin Martin.

You have a passion for ANIME, and various other programs possibly considered either nostalgic or infantile by your peers, from America or Japan. You have a knack for writing FANFICTION, but frequently suffer from writer's block, and sometimes just general bouts of laziness. You still sleep with a STUFFED ANIMAL, which you justify by saying he's a wolf. You are very SHY around people you would consider popular, or at least too shy to become closer friends with them. Your music taste is very erratic, ranging from POP songs, to obscure J-POP songs. You have a strong dislike of people who WASTE TIME, or who like to play with your GULLABILITY.

You push the long, brown hair out of your eyes, as you watch the characters on screen hitting each other with mallets.

You enjoy this downtime and easy days, when you hear a voice perk up from next to you.

"Um, sir, I need some help." a student asks, and you respectfully, yet begrudgingly pause your video and get up to help them .

You have recently been employed by Houston Community College, the same institute you are also enrolled in. You work as a lab aide, assisting students (and sometimes teachers) with programs like Photoshop and Illustrator. Some days you feel more like your holding their hands, but you don't mind it, not too much. At least the pay is good.

You glance off at the clock, longing for the time you can leave, as you do every day. However, you were extra anxious this day. With some coercing from your friends, you had signed up to test out a Beta of a new game, known as Sburb. As you finish explaining the correct procedure to the student, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket.

Returning to your computer, you check to see if a friend has messaged you on Facebook; the same friend who got you to sign up for Sburb.

Collin: be the other boy.

**Alvaro**

You are now the other boy.

We now see a young man, older than the previous one, but still in his early twenties

Enter Name: Outrageous Dork.

No, that name is completely wrong, what is his real name?

Enter name: Alvaro Molina

You are a GAMER and have a passion for Skyrim, and an obsession with League of Legends. You DRAW in you spare time, creating little doodles of yourself. You have a longing for girls with green eyes. You like READING, but only videogame magazines, not textbooks. Your iPad is filled with INDIE, DUBSTEP and ELECTRONIC MUSIC. You really hate RACIST PEOPLE and RASINS. It gets on your nerves when people BORROW YOURSTUFF WITHOUT PERMISSION. You hate it when people, especially girls, TEASE and MAKE FUN OF YOU.

"Hey, Alvaro! Are you coming?" a friend of his called, noticing him at the bus stop

"That's what she said!" he called after his friend.

"Nah, I gotta get home actually, gotta prepare my homework for Fluid Mechanics," he said as his friends shrugged, and left him at the bus stop. This was not entirely false, Alvaro did have to finish the homework, but there were more pressing matters than that.

He had been preoccupied with thoughts of this coming evening. His friend Collin, off in another state, was going to join you in a MMORPG of what was reported to be epic proportions.

He now was on the bus home. The ride took a good two hours, so it left him a lot of time to play League of Legends on his iPad. As he was going into a mission, he saw a blank slot in his team lineup, which read "LiamX61".

This was the profile of his friend, who had only gone on one mission with him. It had ended badly, at least for LiamX61.

"Maybe he'll do better at this game." Alvaro told himself, as he watched the scenery outside the bus go by. It was now about 5 in the afternoon as he got off the bus, and started the walk down to his house

As he walked to the door, he stopped as he saw a small brown package sitting on the doorstep.

"Cool! It actually came!' he said to himself, before walking into his house.

Well, it wasn't actually his house or a complete house at all. It was more like the downstairs floor of a two story house. He made his way into the living room, and tossed his backpack onto the couch, while placing the box on the desk next to the computer. He turned it on, as he made his way into the kitchen. Grabbing a Vitamin Water from the fridge, he unlocked his phone, checking his messages. After answering all the messages left to his friends, he walked back to the computer.

Signing into Skype, he waited for his friend to sign on. This was not a type of game Alvaro was familiar with. Apparently you had to connect with a friend, one acting as a Client Player, the other as a Server Player. Alvaro was not sure what this all meant, but after a lengthy argument last night, he and his friend had decided that he would be the client, and Alvaro would be the Server player. Again, Alvaro was not sure if he had gotten a better or worse deal out of it.

**Collin**

You've stopped being the other boy.

Collin was relieved when he finally saw the clock read 5:30. After removing all the stragglers from his Lab, he locked up, making sure it was clean. Five minutes later, he was biking home, following the sidewalk, and avoiding cars, even if none were anywhere near him. As he approached an intersection, he got a strange feeling of impending dread. Collin wasn't even sure what had caused it; he just knew he got a bad vibe just now. Shrugging it off, he continued on for home.

As he opened the door, he was knocked on his back by three bodies. One was his dog, a happy creature who seemed to be attached to his leg, like she was a shadow. The other two were his cousins

Sighing, Collin pushed the three of them off, and got to his feet.

"Just what I want at the end of the week, to be trampled to death," he groaned, as his cousins smiled while his dog pranced around his feet.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" he asked,

"Random family get together." Maria said smiling, as she waltzed back into the house, her sky blue/violet hair swirling around her.

"It was Aunt Ginny's idea," Henry explained further as he ran his hand through his short/spikey brown hair, as Collin nodded in understanding.

As he interred the house, Maria led Maggie into his room, and shut the door. It was then that his aunt walked back into the room from the kitchen.

"Hello my sweet angel!" his aunt called as she saw him walk in the door, her arms out stretched, pulling him into a hug.

"Please don't call me that," he groaned, returning the hug.

"Oh, all right my big strong teenager" she smiled, as Collin walked into his room as his uncle walked by with coffee.

"Hey bud, how's it going?" he asked, giving his nephew a bear hug.

"Oh, fine Uncle Steve," he responded, as he tossed his backpack on the bed, as his dog jumped up after it.

"Oh Maggie you are so cute." he cooed, scruffling the mutt's ears.

"Hey mom, did I get any mail?" he called out.

"Yeah, I think you got a package, but Maggie ate it." his mother called.

Collin burst out of his room, breathing heavily, and panicked.

"She did WHAT?!" he gasped, as his mother and father burst out laughing.

"Wow, you guys are _so_ hilarious," he muttered as he saw the brown box on the dining room table. As he made his way to get it, a black and white streak ran in front of him and jumped on the Scratching post next to him.

"Hey fuzzy buddy!" he said, scratching his cat behind the ears.

He noticed his aunt was all tensed up. She always got this way around animals of all kinds.

"He's not going to hurt you," His father reassured her, but she was still not convinced.

"I still want him where I am not" she replied, not taking her eyes off the cat.

Rolling his eyes, Collin grabbed the package from the table, and brought it back to his room, where his cousins and mutt were waiting.

"So this is Sburb, huh?" Henry asked, hoping onto the bed.

"I guess so," Collin replied, as he tore off the wrapping paper, revealing a bright red box underneath. Opening that box, Collin found two CD's inside, one labeled Client, the other Server. There was also a slip of paper, with mini instructions.

"So it says I need to install the Client Disk, while my friend installs the Server disk so I can play the game" Collin surmised from the leaflet. You had already figured out who was going to be what last night, but the game made mention of more successful sessions of play with more than two people. So, you had managed to rope in two of your other friends. They should be contacting you later tonight.

"Alright, so what are you waiting for?" Maria asked, sitting on the floor next to Maggie on her doggie bed, scratching her.

"Well, first this thing's gotta boot up" he said, pressing the power button on his laptop. Once it finished going through the loading sequence, Collin pulled the client disk out of the sleeve it was in.

Collin set down at his computer, and logged onto Skype.

"So, did you see Michael today?" Maria asked, in an inquisitive voice.

"That is none of your business" Collin blushed, as he placed the CD into his laptop, listening to it whirl to life.

"Ok, just wanted to know if he showed how to work the printer you've been talking about for the last week" she hand waved, but Collin knew exactly what she was asking.

Luckily, the familiar chime from Skype sounded. Collin turned his attention back to the computer, and the chat window that had opened.

Alvaro-Greetings, mighty Dovahkin

Collin-Hey Alvaro!

Alvaro-So, did it arrive yet?

Collin-If you mean "Sburb", then yep, got it right here next to me

Alvaro-Awesome man! Is it loaded yet?

Collin-Not yet, darn computer is being slow as a Mammoth

Alvaro- :)

Alvaro- So how was work?

Collin-Long, and tiring, not one of my better days

Alvaro- Why? Did someone steal your sweetroll?

Collin-I wish, at least then there would have been some excitement. Nope, just hand-holding people through assignments on Photoshop and Illustrator

Alvaro- Well, I'm sure they all appreciate your help, and you get paid for it too ;)

Collin-yeah, I guess. Oh, this thing has finished booting up now

Alvaro- Awesome! So what do I need to do?

Collin-I think you need to install the Server disk, so we can connect

Alvaro- Alright, placing it into my slot now ;)

Collin-Again with your thoughts in the gutter?

Alvaro-;)

Collin-Alright, so is it installing?

Alvaro-Yep, looks like it should be finished any time soon

Another chime suddenly sounded, and Collin saw that another friend of his, Alex Marinick, was trying to join in on the conversation. Clicking "allow", Collin saw the Yellow text now appear.

Alex-Hey guys, how goes things?

Collin-Hey Alex! Good to hear from you

Alvaro-Hello Mr. Alex, nice to meet you :)

And now, another chime sounded. This time, it was Carlos Martinez.

Carlos-what is up my bros?

Collin-Hey Carlos

Alex-Hey man, long time no see!

Carlos-Yeah man, how's the life?

Alvaro-Hello Mr. Martinez, Collin has told me so much about you ;)

Carlos-Nothin bad I hope

"Ugh, can we please get on with it?" Henry called out, getting tired of tossing a pillow into the air.

Collin-Oh, right, sorry to cut the pleasantries guys, but my sidekicks here want us to move this thing along

"Sidekicks?!" The two of them asked incredulously, looking over his shoulder. Pushing them back, Collin went back to typing.

Collin-So anyway, you ready Alvaro?

Alvaro-Always, the question is, r u ready bro?

Collin-Ready

Both of them clicked the Start button on the Homestuck main page, and saw a loading screen pop up.

There was the customary loading bar, but also a strange, spirograph shape above it, which kept twisting and changing patterns every second as well as color and background, ranging from blue and pink skies to red lava like fire, to a strange magenta screensaver thingy, before the loge "SBURB" finally appeared on screen, then it shut off and Collin was back at the Skype page.

Collin-Dude, I think this thing is busted, it just closed out on mine

Alvaro-uh, not on mine dude

Collin-Really? What do you see?

Alvaro-You dude

Collin-O.0

Alvaro-Yeah, you, your cousins, your room, your whole house in fact

Alvaro was not kidding. His screen was now and image of Collin's bedroom, looking like it was a screen from the Sims. Above the window, a menu bar had descended. On the left side was a set of directional arrow keys, as well as the Sburb Logo. Along the entire middle and right side were several icons. Three looked like the Sburb house logo, one looked like a playing card, another like a stack of playing cards, one like a playing card with holes punched in it, and the last, a blue fruit gusher.

"Well this is bizarre" he thought, as he hovered the curser over each one, finding the names of the options.

Select

Revise

Deploy

Phernalia Registry

Grist Cache

Explore Atheneum

Alchemy Excursus

Alvaro-Pretty vague names for these things

Collin-Well, is there a "help" button anywhere?

Alvaro-Hold on, I'll check. Oh hey, here it is, next to the directional pad

Carlos-W8, direction wut?

Ignoring Carlos for the moment, Alvaro clicked the little "?" icon on the screen.

Man it is so helpful that every video game in existence uses that icon to identify the help screen!

Alvaro-Alright, it says to deploy items, I have to look in the "Phernalia Registry"

Collin-It is seriously called that?

Alvaro-Yeah, this thing has some weird names

Clicking the link, Alvaro saw another drop down bar open up. This one had several slots in it, each holding a machine in it. Some of them were grayed out, so Alvaro just grabbed the first one available.

Alvaro- Ok, we got something here called an Alchemiter, I think. It's like, 1 of 10 or something

Alex-Ooh, what ingenious names

Collin-Well, Activate it

Shrugging to himself, Alvaro did just that. He clicked on the icon for the machine and began to drag it to the image, when he saw Collin and his cousins beginning to freak out on the screen.

Alvaro- Whoa, what's wrong guys?!

Instead of typing, Collin pressed video call on the Skype window, and Alvaro's screen was suddenly taken up by the window for video call. Alvaro was caught off guard, and accidentally let go of the mouse, and he heard a loud thud from the Sburb window. Unsure of what had happened; he answered the video call, and waited for the crappy webcams to connect.

When the video finally appeared, Alvaro breathed a sigh of relief, as he saw all three figures where ok and still standing, but became freaked out at what else was in the room

Alex-Hey, what's going on guys?

Carlos-yeah man, is the game good or what?

Alvaro- uh, I'll have to get back to you guys on that

Returning to the video, Alvaro gasped in amazement as the Alchemiter was now sitting on the floor of Collin's room, completely real.

Alvaro- That thing I placed? I think I actually put it in Collin's room, like, in real life real

Alex-No way

Carlos-motherfucker..

Maria looked down, and saw a strange playing card was sitting on the ground, right next to the Alchemiter. Deciding not to mention this to the boys until the time was right, she slipped it into her pocket.

Collin-Alright, guess we should continue, trying to ignore why any of this is possible in the first place

Smiling, Alvaro opened the Pernalia Registry again, and looked at the other items. Listed were a fair few many items left.

Alchemiter

**CD **

**Cloning Pad**

Cruxtruder

**Ectobiology Apparatus**

**Holopad**

**Intellibeam Laserstation**

**Jumper Block Extension**

**Punch Card Shunt**

**Punch Designix**

**Punched card**

Totem Lathe

**Unknown Device**

Alvaro- Ok dude, so it looks like there are only two more items I can place

Collin-I thought you said there were like ten more things you can place?

Alvaro- Well, these are the only things I can place for free, the others I think need money or something

Collin-Oh, ok then, let's deploy the next thing

Alvaro-Alright, I'll try the Totem Lathe thingy next

Alvaro grabbed the item with the mouse, and made sure to keep a strong grip on it this time. He moved it into the view screen, and watched the three all tense up. However, he realized this wouldn't work, as there was no room in Collin's bedroom to put this thing. He moved the mouse over to the left to get a better look at the room, when he noticed the screen suddenly shifted, showing the Living room and the adults. They however, seemed to be too interested in the news report on Television to notice the floating curser or the hovering piece of machinery.

Carefully moving it down, he saw the screen transition again, now to the dining room. He brought it down to the far end of the room, where there was a large window taking up the entire space, perfect for the hulking machine. Releasing the mouse, he placed it down on the ground, this time the thud got the adults attention.

"What was that?" Collin's mom asked, as she got out of her chair, sending the cat flying for his scratching post.

The three emerged from Collin's room, looking out at the Totem Lathe sitting in the back of the dining room.

"That was not an open question to the floor, what is that?" she asked again, clearly lost for words

"I believe it is a totem lathe," Collin answered sheepishly.

"Oh and that answers everything." she asked, her eyebrow raised.

"We don't know what it is either!" Henry interrupted.

"Yeah, the game just said to place these three objects, so that's what Collin's friend Alejandro-"

"Alvaro,"

"Whatever, that is what he did," She explained, as this did not seem to placate Collin's mom in the slightest

Watching the situation unfold on screen, Alvaro decided that one more wasn't going to make the situation worse.

"Ok, one more to go," Alvaro thought, as he clicked the final link for the Cruxtruder. This one looked like a large, stout cylinder placed on a box, with a smokestack on it. Alvaro quickly maneuvered it away from the family, and brought it back to the living room, and set it squarely down in the middle.

"Wow, video games sure have changed since my day," Collin's dad said, his eyes wide.

"Yeah, to hell with pong," Uncle Steve added, as they eyed the strange machine.

"So what exactly does this thing do?" Collin's mom asked, as she circled the machine.

"No idea, I'll see if Alvaro knows," Collin replied, unlocking his iPhone.

Collin-Ok you got the three machines in my house now, so what am I supposed to do?

Alvaro-Activate the Cruxtruder I think

Collin-Ok, how am I supposed to do that?

Alvaro-I think you have to hit it on the top

Collin-And how am I supposed to do _that_?

"Maybe you could use this?" Henry offered, as he came back in from the garage, wielding a mallet from the toolbox.

"Now, wait, let's think this through" Collin's dad interjected holding up his hand.

"Ah, come on Mike, the kid wants to hit something with a hammer, let him do it." his brother objected, as Mike then stepped aside.

"Be careful" Aunt Ginny said, a worried look on her face.

Rolling his eyes, Henry gripped the mallet in his hands, and swung down hard. He made contact with the tower, and the thing lit up like a Christmas tree. Henry was thrown back, as the Cruxtruder began to pulsate and flash green, until the top popped off, and landed on the floor, as smoke rose from it. Henry smiled at his accomplishment, but was taken by surprise when something flew out of the machine.

It actually was two things. One was a strange ball of light, which was rapidly flashing between shamrock green, black, and white The other was a strange green crystal, a perfectly uniform cylinder.

"Huh, hope no one here has epilepsy," Maria joked.

"Ok, exactly what kind of game are you three playing?" Aunt Ginny asked, as she was still eyeing the cat.

"We have no clue," Henry replied, as they all eyed the strange new devices. Maria however, seemed more interested in something outside. She slowly made her way to the front door, and slipped out without anyone noticing. Crossing the front lawn, she looked up and felt an ominous chill in the air. It was a serious case of déjà vu, as she focused on one particular spot in the sky, and finally saw a small pinpoint of red light. Her eyes widened in shock, as she took off running back into the house.

Bursting into the door, everyone looked back at her, as she caught her breath.

"What's wrong princess?" Uncle Steve asked.

"Uh, guys, we may have a problem," Maria said, as she walked into the room, pointing behind her, outside.

"What?" Henry asked, clearly severely annoyed.

"There's a meteor heading for this house," she calmly said, as it took a few seconds for this to sink in.

"WHAT?!" they all asked, as they ran outside. Looking up in the sky, there was in fact a pinpoint of red light.

"Oh my gosh" Aunt Ginny whispered, terror in her eyes.

"2012 actually was real!" Henry cried, as the others made similar exclamations, except for Maria. Collin looked down in at her in shock, but saw that instead of fear, she looked like she was trying to figure out a puzzle.

"Uh, Maria, what's wrong?" he asked, as she looked up.

"I was hit with a serious case of déjà vu. I think… I think I've seen this all before." Maria whispered to him, before grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

Leaving their family standing on the porch, the two raced back into the house, where Maria began looking at the Extruder's timer, something no one else had noticed.

"Ok, we have about twenty minutes to get everything ready," she said, running her hands through her hair.

What do you mean?" he asked, glancing back out the window.

"It doesn't matter, just find the piece of crystal that flew out of the Machine!" she called, and he began looking around the room.

"Here it is!" he said, as he grabbed the totem from where it had fallen on the couch, It was lighter than he had expected it to be.

"Good, now we need to get it to the lathe" she instructed, as she headed into the dining room.

Running to the Totem Lathe in the back of the dining room to join his cousin, Collin saw her standing at the end of it, holding the wheel.

"Place the totem between the two pistons," she commanded, and he held it steady. Maria began to turn the wheel, and the piston on the end extended, until it had locked the totem in place.

"Now what?" he asked, his breath quickening.

"Now, we use this, I think," she said, grabbing the Punched card from her pocket.

"You think?" he asked, but she ignored him. She plugged it in and turned the machine on.

The machine made a lot of noise as it read the information on the card, before a beam of light emerged from the overhanging part. Collin watched in amazement as the laser quickly cut the crystal into a strange, vase-like object. When the laser finally shut off, Maria instructed him to grab the carving, while she turned the wheel on the end, releasing the carved totem. Taking it from the machine, she rushed back to his room where the Alchemiter was waiting.

"Ok, this makes no sense." he said, appearing in the archway.

"Just put the thing on the small pad on the side," she told him, pushing him toward the machine.

He placed the vase on the small stand, and the mechanical hand suddenly whirred to life. It unfolded and swung around, until the tool at the end was facing the totem. Another laser shot out of it, but in much more rapid bursts. After a few minutes, the laser stopped and the arm retreated to its starting position.

"Collin, Maria, what do you think you're doing? We need to get out of here!" his dad yelled, as the adults had rushed back into the house, and the others were trying to pack things up. As Collin tried to explain to his dad what was going on, Maria quietly sneaked to the Computer, and signed Collin out. Quickly signing herself in, she found Alvaro's account, and sent him a message

**Alvaro**

Alvaro was seriously beginning to freak out. Not only had he placed a bunch of strange machines in his friend's house from a freaking video game, but now a fucking _meteor_ was falling on his house?!

This was not what he had been expecting. Sure some of his video games had been violent, but none had ever physically killed a person. Alvaro wanted to pull the plug on the game, but nowhere in the tiny instructions did the subject of stopping the game come up.

Suddenly, the message chime from Skype appeared.

Maria-Alvaro, this is Collin's cousin, Maria

Alvaro- Oh, uh, hey, sorry about dooming you guys, I'm trying to stop this, but I can't find any info about stopping.

Maria-no, don't bother

Alvaro- huh?

Maria-I think, I think this is what is meant to be

Alvaro-Killing you guys is meant to be?!

Maria-No, we're going to be alright.

Alvaro-How do you know?

Maria-I, I am not sure, but I just, know what is going to happen, as least in these first few moments

Alvaro-So, what do I need to do?

Maria-You just have to sit back and watch, and wait for your turn

Alvaro-Wait, my what?

The conversation had ended before you could send that last message. Deciding to trust Maria, Alvaro sat back in his chair, and watched as Collin was confronting the flashy ball.

**Collin**

Noticing the flashing Kernel Sprite, Collin's mind raced, before he noticed it was floating straight towards him!

"Hey! Get away from me!" He shouted at it, but it didn't seem to listen, as it just kept floating closer to him. Desperate to keep the thing away, he grabbed his guide to the Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess from the floor, and chucked it at the orb. Instead of hitting it however, the book was just absorbed by it. Looking on in horror, Collin saw the orb began to flash even faster, before lines began to appear in the center. The lines seemed to connect to each other, before forming a 2d icon, which looked like Link's face.

Dumbfounded, Collin slipped to the floor, and saw the thing fly over him, and onto the desk. Standing up, Collin watched as it began floating towards his limited edition figure of Kamina from Gurren Lagann. Just as it had done to his book, the thing engulfed the figure, and began to flash quickly. Instead of a new face appearing on it however, the lines seemed to alter slightly, as Kamina's trademark triangular sunglasses drew themselves onto Link's face.

Unsure of what he had just witnessed, Collin was torn away from the sphere by a loud beeping from the Alchemiter behind him.

The machine had finished analyzing the data from the totem, and a strange sight erupted before them. Sitting on the holopad was a shamrock green refrigerator, which quickly opened, and vanished, while leaving behind a crystal beer bottle, the same shade of green.

Maria took advantage of Collin's distraction to sign out of Skype and sign him back in. It always was easy for her to figure out his passwords.

"What the hell?" Mike asked, as Collin picked the bottle up.

"Now what?" he asked, but Maria just shrugged, a worried look on her face.

Unsure of what to do next, he returned to his laptop, and the Skype chat.

Collin-This crystal thing just spit out a beer bottle!

Alvaro- I know, I've been watching you do everything ;)

Collin-Now is not the time for jokes dude, I seriously need help here

Alvaro- kk, well, does the thing have liquid in it?

This seemed like a strange request. Collin, still gripping the bottle by the neck, sloshed it around and indeed did hear the sound of a liquid inside.

"Collin, stop this now! We have to get out of here!" hid dad demanded, grabbing him.

"No!" Maria suddenly shouted, grabbing the father's arm, pulling him out of the room. Collin quickly returned to Alvaro.

Collin-Uh, yeah, there's liquid in here

Alvaro- Maybe you have to drink it or something

Carlos-chugchugchugchug!

Collin-Dude that's gross!

Alvaro-You got any idea what to do with it?

Carlos-yeah, just drink it ya pussy!

Out of options, Collin grimaced.

"I can't believe it has to be this way" he groaned, as he gripped the cap and tore it off the beer.

"Son, what are you doing?" he asked, as Collin brought the bottle up to his lips, and took a drink.

"Disgusting!" Collin groaned, as he spat it out, and then wiped his mouth.

Collin-That did NOTHING

Carlos-Well sorry for trying to help

Looking up as he could actually hear the meteor descending on his house, Maria ran back into the room.

"Collin, you have to break the bottle!" she shouted, a look of realization on her face.

"What?!" he asked, before his eyes widened. The light outside had just turned an ominous red.

"How do I do that?" he asked, looking at the bottle.

"Throw it on the floor!" she said.

"You want me to..."

"Just throw the goddamn fucking bottle on the floor!" she screamed, as the light began to get brighter outside.

Without wasting a second, Collin dropped the bottle to the ground, where is smashed, spilling out all the liquid inside it.

The Artifact glowed white before vanishing. Collin looked up at his cousin, who had a smile on her face. The spot where the bottle had impacted began to glow white also, and the glow began to spread all throughout the house.

End Chapter 1


	2. A Whole New World

Time seemed to stand still, as Collin stood there with his arm covering his face. Not hearing the descending apocalypse any more, Collin slowly brought his arm down, as did Maria. Looking around, they saw that nothing had changed.

"What happened?" Collin asked, as he began to slowly move around.

"Uh, I think it worked." Maria said, as equally confused.

"Guys?" Collin called out, as he heard movement in the house.

"Collin?" his mother called out from the living room.

Cautiously walking out of the room, Collin saw that his mom, dad, uncle, aunt, cat and puppy were all there in the living room, completely safe.

"Oh, guys," he gasped, as he fell into his parents arms. "You guys are all ok," he cried, tears falling down his face.

Behind him, his cousins emerged too, as they were grabbed by their dad and aunt. After several minutes of hugging and crying, they finally ended their mass embrace.

"So, I guess we survived the apocalypse." Henry whispered, as Jane turned the TV on.

On the screen was a news report about the meteor striking the neighborhood.

"Or are we in Limbo?" Steve wondered, as the picture showed that the entire neighborhood had been flattened.

"Wait, you were connected to Alvaro when we entered?" Maria whispered to him, as he slowly nodded, and the three kids slowly made their way back to Collin's room. As they walked in, they noticed the Alchemiter just sitting there.

"I have a feeling we'll be using that some more" Collin whispered, as Maria nodded, and Henry just silently agreed.

Collin slowly lowered himself to his laptop, and opened Skype, and began to type.

Collin-Alvaro? You there dude?

Alvaro-Yeah man, that was intense!

Collin-Huh?

Alvaro-I saw then entire thing from the view screen here,

Collin-Um, exactly...what exactly happened?

Alvaro-Well, you three were dicking around with the machines, and then you broke the bottle. All the while the meteor kept falling closer and closer. Then, at possibly the last moment, your house vanished, just before the meteor hit, it was a friggin' action movie man!

Collin-Whoa, so, we didn't...die?

Alvaro-Not that I can tell man. I can see you guys, so I'm guessing that means you're still alive

Collin-How does that prove we're still alive?

Alvaro-Well, I figure if you guys were dead, you wouldn't show up on film or whatever

Collin took a moment to ponder this, until his attention was diverted.

The three turned their heads when a loud thump came from the closet.

Collin-Gotta go

"What is that?" Maria asked, as Collin closed Skype.

"Maybe something fell over" Henry replied, as he began to back up.

"Yeah...I...I'm sure that's what it is" Collin tried to reassure them, as he edged to the closet. Gripping the knob, he yanked it open, only for the trio to gasp at what fell out. For standing there, was a strange, 3ft tall, jet black creature. It was oddly proportioned, and had sharp, menacing claws. It's ears were pointed, it's eyes narrowed in evil stares, and its mouth was full of scary looking razor sharp teeth. There was only one word Collin could think of to call this creature, an **imp.**

The imp lost its balance, and fell out onto the floor.

The Imp got to its feet, and the three were perplexed by what they saw, for the Imp was wearing a black version of Link's costume, it even had a dagger sized version of the master sword.

"What the heck is that thing?" Maria asked a disgusted look on her face.

The creature made a few snarling noises, before it lunged at Collin with its Master Dagger.

"Whoa, geez little guy, what did I ever do to you?" Collin said as he kept jumping out of the way.

The creature snarled again, but Collin could have sworn he heard it say.

"Goddamn Frog Breeder." This only puzzled Collin more.

"This thing is off its rocker." Collin told his cousins, who had retreated to the top bunk.

"What are we gonna do?" Maria asked, as Henry sighed.

"I don't know, you're the _smart one!_" he sniped, continuing their proud tradition of sibling rivalry.

Looking around, Maria tried to think of a plan, until she felt something poking her knee. Looking down she saw a jet black katana made of wood, with a backwards swastika for a hilt. It was the sword from Bleach that Collin had bought at a convention a few years back.

"Cuz', here!" she shouted, as she gripped the Katana, and chucked it at Collin.

Catching it in his right hand, he spun it around and back-handed stabbed the Imp, running it straight through.

"Whoa, dude, you killed it!" Henry said in awe.

"Great, now we have to clean up the corpse." Maria groaned

However, she was proven wrong, as instead of a body being left behind, the creature flashed, and turned into several crystals, which looked like Fruit Gushers.

"Well, glad that's over" Collin gasped, as he started to clean up the mess.

A shriek from the living room however told him otherwise.

**Alex: 3 hours ago**

A little while ago, three earth hours to be exact.

We see a young man sitting in a computer lab, a fancy looking computer lab, possibly belonging to a university, but it looks somewhat more technical.

The young man is wearing army Fatigues, with his hair shaved off.

Enter name: Buff McStudly

No, that's not it.

Enter name: Alex Marinick

You have a love for ANIME and MANGA. You are currently in the ARMED SERVICES. You have a huge love of ASIAN MUSIC, from Korea, China and Japan. You are also a huge GAMER. You are currently stationed on an army base somewhere in IRAN.

Tonight you will be playing a game with your friends. It is a game you have been anticipating for some time. A new MMORPG called "Sburb".

Alex was nervously glancing around, making sure no one was spying on him.

"I could get in big trouble for playing games here" he whispered to himself, as he hid the Sburb disks in the binder next to him.

He had been looking forward to playing this game, but forgot he didn't get leave for a whole month. He was eager to play the game, so he requested use of a computer for a few hours.

"I'm not gonna play the entire game here, just get my account set up and everything, then play when I get home" he reasoned with himself. It had been a pain getting the package past security, but he convinced the guards it was just a care passage from home.

"Definitely going to get in trouble for that one" he muttered to himself, as he quickly signed into Skype. Navigating through his friends, he managed to find his old high school friend, Carlos Martinez.

Alex-Heeeey Carlos!

Carlos-alex my main man!

Alex-You get the game yet?

Carlos-nt yt, dum8 mail is takin 4ever

Alex-Thus sucks

Carlos-yp, it truly does

Alex-So you talk to the others?

Carlos-U mean Collin and his friend?

Alex-Yep, he tell you anything about the friend?

Carlos-np, just that hes cool, I guess

Alex-Alright, I think I found their conversation, I'm gonna join them

Carlos-Alright, Ill join soon, just gotta take care of something

Alex exited his chat with Carlos, and clicked on Collin's Skype, to join his conversation.

Alex-Hey guys, how goes things?

Collin-Hey Alex! Good to hear from you

Alvaro-Hello Mr. Alex, nice to meet you :)

We have already seen this conversation

**Collin**

In the living room, Jane, Mike, Steve and Ginny were standing in a circle, surrounded by imps.

"What do you think they want?" Collin's mom asked, as she gripped her husband's shoulder.

However, she never got to find out, as at that moment, Collin burst out of his room, brandishing the Bankai blade.

"Eat this you cruddy demons!" he shouted, as he bashed through each one. With each swing, Collin's aunt screamed.

Soon, the imps were reduced to…well, more strange crystal thingies.

"Oh my god, Collin, what were you thinking?" his mom asked, as she grabbed the blade from him.

"Um, I just saved your lives" he replied, taking the katana back. He suddenly heard a text message sound from his phone. The message said it was from "The Medium". Finding this very strange, Collin opened the message.

"**Collin just leveled up to Novice Hero Kid**!" it said, surprising him.

Just as they thought things couldn't get stranger, the floating ball appeared again.

"Great, the Seizure orb is back" Maria said, as she folded her arms. However, it began to flash more rapid, before a ball of white light shot out of it and flew upward, as a ball of dark light shot downward.

All that was left of it was the floating Kamina face, before that began to flash, and grow bigger too. As it stopped flashing, they all saw the icon had taken on a more humanoid appearance. In fact, its upper body was that of Kamina from Gurren Lagann, complete with the tribal tattoos and bandages. However, we wore the gloves that Link wore, and had the master sword strapped to his back. He also was wearing Link's cap, and Kamina's own triangular sunglasses. However, he was completely shamrock green, and he didn't have legs. Instead, he had a long, ethereal tail.

"Hey there bro!" he suddenly exclaimed, putting an arm around Collin.

"Uh, hey there." he responded, unsure of what was happening.

"And just exactly who are you?" Uncle Steve asked, his arms folded.

"Me, I am the Manly leader of team Dai Gurren! That's right, when people talk about the Legacy of the mighty team Dai Gurren, they talk about its hot-blooded and manly leader, the Great Kamina!" he responded. Everyone just stared.

"He's an anime character." Henry whispered to his father, who made an exaggerated realization face.

"Well, more importantly, I seem to be Collin's guide to the world of Sburb." he added.

"Oh, so you know what's going on here?" Henry asked, walking over to the sprite.

"Eh, I know a little of this, and a little of that." LinKamina answered, shrugging.

"Oh, so he's gonna be one of _those _guides." Steve muttered, his arms still folded. The sprite just glared at him.

"So anyway, Kamina." Collin began.

"Call me, LinKamina!" the Sprite corrected

"Okay, LinKamina, what is this stuff?" the boy asked, holding up the strange stuff he had found from the imp's remains.

"Ah, this stuff is called, 'Grist.'" LinKamina explained, as he looked over all the grist Collin had collected.

"What does it do?" Collin's dad asked.

"He uses it to build stuff" the Sprite responded, giving the grist back to Collin, as it was promptly absorbed into the iPhone.

"Wait, why do you keep referring to my son?" Mike asked.

"Because he's a Sburb Player, this is his adventure." LinKamina replied, unsure of why this man was being so obstinate.

"He's my son! I am not allowing you to place him in harm's way!" the man objected.

"He's a sweet little angel! He isn't capable of surviving out there in a world that could harm him at any moment." his aunt added, in a tone Collin had heard many times before.

"Uh, it is not up to you," LinKamina retorted "Collin signed up for Sburb, he loaded the game, and it's up to him to complete his quest."

"Well that information sure would have been handy to know when we were allowing him to sign up for this game!" his father said, his voice remaining calm, yet agitated.

"But no one ever knows about that." LinKamina objected. As Collin's dad grabbed the Sprite by the leather strap on his chest.

"Maybe you should tell us everything, NOW." he commanded, as LinKamina shook his head.

"I'm afraid I can't do that" he answered, as Mike began to tighten his grip.

"Can't or won't?"

"A little of both really," LinKamina objected "The game won't allow us Sprites to give out any Spoilers, and if we do, _bad _things will happen to us."

"Fine" Mike groaned, as he let the Sprite go.

"So what am I supposed to do here?" Collin asked, as the Sprite regained his composure.

"Well, that question has so many answers, so many of them I can't give you" He replied, as Henry smacked his face "But what I can tell you, is that you have to go through the first of your seven gates, which is located right above your house" he said, pointing upward.

"So I have to break through the heavens?" Collin sheepishly asked with a smile, as LinKamina laughed and placed an arm around him.

"I like you kid, you're goin' places!" Collin smiled at this, before looking outside.

"Well, I guess first order of business is to see this portal thingy." Collin said, as he looked out the window.

"Or at least, figure out where we are." Jane commented, as she edged toward the door.

No one was moving toward the door, even though they wanted to see what was outside. Finally, Maria opened the door herself, and boldly stepped outside.

"Whoa…" was all she could say at what she saw.

"W...What is it?" Collin asked, his jaw tightening in suspense.

"You remember how you always said you wanted beach front property?" she asked, he voice loaded with surprise.

"...Yeah...sure. Why?" he asked, moving to the door.

"Well I think you got it" She answered, as the family slowly made their way outside. The light struck Collin first of all, and when his vision returned in a few seconds, the sight he saw took his breath away.

He looked up to see...paradise.

It was one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen! It was like someone had taken Hawaii, Japan, and Ireland, took all their most beautiful scenery, and put it in a blender. As Collin looked around, he saw giant four leaf clovers the size of palm trees. Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom, as their petals swirled all around. Looking at the ground, he saw the ground was littered with what he could only assume were sapphires.

"Dude, we are going to be so rich when we get back!" Henry said in awe, as he directed Collin to look up at the mountain surrounding the house, and saw a faint blue glow. The entire mountain was teaming with veins of Sapphire!

Another sound grabbed Collin's attention. It was the sound of rushing water. Looking behind him, he saw a glorious water fall, like something out of Lord of the Rings. It fell down into a small pool, and Collin saw strange, fantastical fish swimming in it.

"Ok, we are either in Heaven, or having the best dream ever" Maria said, as she looked up at the sky, with was royal blue without a cloud in the sky. There were all kinds of fruit trees around the pond, with fruit that looked strange and exotic, coming in all different shapes, sizes and colors.

Yep, it truly was paradise.

Looking up, Collin saw that far up in the sky, at least three stories above his house, was the portal. It looked similar to the Symbol from Sburb. It was a circular pattern that kept spiraling and changing every few seconds.

"So how am I supposed to get up there?" Collin asked his guide

"This is where we need that server player of yours," LinKamina replied, pointing at the phone. "He has to use that grist you've already collected, and build your house up."

"Well, he pretty much does that for his school, maybe he'll do it." Collin hopefully wished as he opened Skype.

Collin-Hey man, I think I need your help with something

Alvaro-Sure dude, what is it?

Collin-Apparently, you have to build onto my house

Alvaro-wut?

Collin-Yeah, in order to reach the portal above my house, you have to build onto it, making it taller

Alvaro-So, kinda like the HearthFire DLC?

Collin-I guess

Alvaro-That sounds...AWESOME

Collin-oh, ok then

Alvaro-I'll get right on it dude

Surprised, Collin closed the app, as he saw the Sburb Logo/ Mouse Thingy begin to move around above his house.

"Now, watch this, it's gonna blow your minds" LinKamina laughed, as the Mouse dragged a Cube shape from the top of Collin's roof, and created a whole new room on top of the house.

"Holy cow!"

"Neat-o Torpedo." Uncle Steve proclaimed.

As Maria walked around the clearing, she began to notice something. There were a few extra shadows on the ground, and she couldn't see anything that cast them. Then there were noises, like, the sound of rats gnawing at something. She began to look around for the source, but couldn't see it. Then, the rustling started. This time she was sure there was something else with them. As she walked closer to the trees, she heard the noises growing louder, coming closer.

Moving a few branches aside, a shrill scream escaped her lips. Whipping around to look at her, the family saw her running from a large pack of the Imps. Following Maria's lead, the family turned tail, and ran back to the house, desperately trying to outrun the imps.

**Alvaro: 60 Minutes in the future**

Alvaro hated putting Collin on hold like that, but he needed to in order to connect with Alex. Sliding the Sburb "Client" disk into his computer, he opened Skype.

Alvaro-Ok dude, I got a free moment, we can set up our link in the chain now

Alex-Ok, no one is watching me on my end, so let's do this

Pressing the start button, they both watched as the Sburb loading screen appeared. It did its usual hypnotic screen changes, before it finished.

Just like for Collin, Alvaro's Screen closed out and returned to Skype, as Alex saw Alvaro's living room appear on his screen, with the menu bar on top.

Alex-Whoa, this is pretty amazing

Alvaro-Wow, just like for Collin. Ok, now you need to put all those things here in my house

Alex-Right, so those things are in the "Phernaila thing", right?

Alvaro-Yeah, that's the one!

Alex-Ok, I got the Alchemiter selected

Alvaro-Alright, put it right here, in the living room

Alex-You got it

As Alvaro turned around, he saw the Sburb Logo appear, holding the Alchemiter Device. It moved a few times, before gently setting it down in the open space. Alvaro watched the Sburb Logo Fly away and bring back the Totem Lathe, noticing its strange appearance. It looked like Twelve blocks (one with a tiny block in the corner), and a triangle on top with a smaller rectangle, forming a roof, to go with the "house" design. Sure, he felt it made since, the game was called "Homestuck", but there was something bugging him about there being _twelve_ squares...

Collin

As the group ran inside, the adults slammed the door shut, and started moving nearby furniture in front of it. Meanwhile, Collin ran to the Dining room, where he had dropped the Bankai Blade. Gripping it, he noticed something disheartening. There were a fair few more Knicks in the blade, showing the wood inside.

Collin grimaced, as he moved to the window, and saw their adversaries were growing in number.

"You're gonna need a weapon more powerful than that toothpick to take out all of those guys." LinKamina warned, as Collin looked out at the army of Imps.

Looking around for ideas, Collin spotted something lying on his desk. It was an old key. Picking it up, he looked it over, and then looked back at his sword, thinking things through, he finally got an idea.

"Alright, so to create weapons, what do I do?" he asked, as LinKamina smiled.

"Well, first, captchalogue those two things." he explained.

"How?"

"Press the little icon on your phone there, that will serve as your quest satchel, and will hold all the items you need." he said, as Collin pressed the little icon that looked like a magenta playing card. The screen was suddenly taken up by the image, as the words "Standing By…" flashed on the screen

Gripping his iPhone, Collin swung it at the sword, and the weapon vanished in a flash of green pixels. Looking down at his Phone, Collin saw that the item had now appeared as an item card.

"Great, now the next one!" LinKamina instructed. Nodding, Collin pressed his phone down on the Key, and it too vanished. Collin looked at the two cards, now registering in the itemdex.

"Ok, now press 'generate card'." LinKamina continued. Doing exactly that, Collin saw two playing cards had emerged from a new slot on the top of his iPhone. Taking them, Collin noticed there was a code written onto the back of each card.

"Ok, now we need help from your friend." LinKamina said, as he pressed the Skype app.

Collin-Hey

Alvaro-Oh, hey, how goes things?

Collin-Good, hey listen, I think I need you to place another machine in my house

Alvaro-really? Which one?

Collin-I think the "Punch Designex"

Alvaro-Alright, but I think I need some kind of money or something first

Collin-Build Grist

Alvaro-Sure, why not? Build Grist

Collin-Don't worry, I got some from killing those imps

Alvaro-Oh, ok then, I'll get to work

A few moments passed, and Collin then saw the return of the Sburb Icon in his room. He watched as Alvaro made the device appear out of thin air, and dragged it over to the window next to Collin's desk. The machine looked like a small piano, only instead of the keys, this one had a computer keyboard attached to it via wires, and a small shunt for cards.

Collin-Thanks a million dude

Alvaro-No probe :P

With this new piece of equipment in place, LinKamina lead Collin further into the instructions.

"Alright, now take that card, and read the code on the back" Looking at each, Collin wrote the codes down, before he placed the sword card in the machine, before typing the code in. Hearing a crunching sound, Collin took the code out to see there were now 12 holes punched in, reminding Collin of old-school voting ballots.

Repeating the steps for the second card, LinKamina pulled Collin along, in a hurry to get Collin his weapon.

He dragged Collin to the Totem Lathe, past his family, who were busy trying to fortify the house.

"Alright, place the two card on top of each other, and put them into the Lathe" Following the instructions, Collin placed the cards in the slot, as LinKamina returned with another Cruxite Dowel.

"Where did you get that?"

"From the machine, it has an infinite supply" he explained, placing the crystal into the machine.

Collin shrugged, and turned the machine on. He watched as the laser once again bore down on the dowel, carving it into a vase. This one looked more intricate than the artifact dowel, it had many more details to it.

"Alright, now back to the Alchemiter!" LinKamina exclaimed, as Collin ran back to his room, past his parents, who were trying to move a bookcase in front of one of the windows.

"Is that boy still trying to play his computer game?" Mike asked, as he moved the lamp blocking their way.

Once in his room, Collin placed the vase on the scanner once more, and the arm began reading the crystal.

"Once this is created you will have to set the type as your designated weapon, that's the green card on your phone" LinKamina added.

"Got it" Collin responded, pressing it. Collin looked up to see that some grist had flown out of his phone, and was being fused by the machine, creating his weapon.

Collin smiled as he saw his work come to life.

Back with the Martin family.

The six were beginning to pile furniture up in front of the doors and windows, in hopes of keeping the army out.

"How many do you think are out there?" Aunt Ginny asked, as she helped Henry drag some of the kitchen chairs in front of the door.

"No idea, it looks to be well into the 70's or so." Uncle Steve guessed, taking a quick look out the window.

"What are we going to do? This furniture won't keep them out for long." Jane sighed, as she and her husband moved the Piano closer to the door.

"We fight them, obviously!" Collin suddenly declared, emerging from his room, brandishing the Kingdom KeyBlade from Kingdom Hearts.

"Collin, what are you talking about, have you lost your mind?" his mother asked, staring at her son in disbelief.

"And where did you get that?" his dad asked, looking at the weapon.

"Just made it." Collin responded, twirling it in his hand.

"This...just...no!" his father said, clearly beginning to panic.

"Sorry guys, but Collin's gotta fight!" LinKamina said, as he floated nearby.

"No, there is no way he could survive against and army like that!" Jane shouted, as LinKamina rolled his eyes.

**Alex: 90 minutes prior**

Alex watched in amazement as he saw Alvaro using the machinery he had just placed. It was so amazing that a game could be created that manipulated actual reality.

"Hey new guy!" a voice called out. Alex looked up from his terminal, to see a higher ranking officer standing there.

"Yes sir?" he asked, hoping he wasn't busted.

"You hear about the meteor that hit?" Alex was thoroughly confused by this.

"Uh, why no, no I have not."

"Yeah, apparently some space rock fell on a neighborhood in Houston, guess the world really is coming to an end." the soldier said, as he took his leave.

Alex eyes were wide in shock. Alvaro hadn't been joking; a meteor actually had fallen on Collin's house.

Panic began to overtake him, as he saw that Alvaro was close to activating the Cruxtruder .

**Collin**

Fed up, Collin pushed his dad out of the way, bursting out of the door, weapon at the ready. Leaping off the porch, he spun around, and swung through ten imps at once, reducing them to grist. Landing on his feet, he turned to glare at his opponents, as Grist of all shapes and colors fell around him.

"Oh, this is gonna be fun." he smirked, as the KeyBlade swung again, and another section of the army was reduced to fruit gusher lookalikes.

"Collin, get back here!" his aunt cried, as the four adults had now gathered on the porch, watching him.

Suddenly, they felt something push them down, as Maria and Henry ran past them. Looking up in disbelief, Steve watched as his children jumped into the group of monsters. His daughter was wielding the Bankai sword Collin had used earlier, as she ran it through three imps at once. He turned to see his son wielding the butcher knife from the kitchen, using it as a shiv to take out fifteen imps in rapid succession. He couldn't believe this, his children had their violent spats, but he never had any inkling they could be capable of fighting like this.

"Yehaw!" Maria cried out, as she ran the blade through more imps, and swung the blade; using them as a wall to take out more imps. This created a good sized pile of grist.

A few yards away, Henry was running at a small group, as he dropped to his knees, and slid down under the imps, slicing straight up, creating a grist shower around him.

"Sorry you guys had to 'split'" Henry chuckled, as he hopped to his feet.

Jumping onto an Imp, Collin was able to use it like a springboard and jump high into the air, Collin brought the Keyblade crashing into the ground, creating a giant shockwave, destroying a good fifty imps.

"Wow, is this easy or what?" Henry asked, as he and Collin ended up back to back, circled.

"It's the first boss fight, of course it's supposed to be easy." he replied, as they both swung in an arch, destroying the circle.

"Still, this is a cake walk." Maria called, as she dispatched a bigger imp. As Collin smiled after her, he was brought back to reality when a giant fist slammed down in front of him. He looked up to see that the Imp was covered in shiny armor, which almost looked like a Gunmen Mecha from Gurren Lagann, and just as big. Collin wasn't sure why, but this Imp felt more important, more powerful.

"Well, First Boss I presume." he groaned to himself, as sweat started to trickle down his face.

**Alex: 60 minutes prior**

Not sure if this was a good idea anymore, Alex tried pleading his case to Alvaro

Alex-Dude, I don't think we should play this game anymore

Alvaro-Wut? y not?

Alex-I don't know, maybe because Collin is dead now thanks to this game?

Alvaro-What?! No he's not

Alex-A meteor just fell on his house OF COURSE HE'S DEAD

Alvaro-No, no, I just talked 2 him

"Great, this guy is a loony" Alex thought, running his hand through his super short hair.

Alvaro-I'll prove it 2 u

Alvaro-Hey, Collin, yo

Several seconds pass, and no response.

Alvaro-He, he's there, I swear it

Alex-Dude, he's not

Alvaro-Yes, he is

Alex-no

Alvaro-yes

Alex-no

Alvaro-yes!

Alex-no

Alvaro-He has to be

Several more seconds pass and still no messages from Collin.

Alvaro-no...

Alex-Sorry dude, I don't want to believe

Collin-WHAT?!

Alex-oh hey you're alive

Alvaro-HA! Told you Alex, told you told you Told YOU

Collin-What do you people want, I'm kinda fighting an army of giant robots right now

Alex-Whoa really?

Alvaro-Wow awesome man!

Collin-No, not awesome, as I have no giant robot of my own

**Collin**

Exiting Skype, Collin returned to the matter at hand. He was jumping all over the place, trying to avoid the fists of the giant Mech before him.

"Kid! Use the ring in the handle!" LinKamina called out. Looking down at the keychain, he in fact did see that there was a Ring embedded in it. Twisting it around, Collin was able to remove it, and he was shocked at what it was. It was large and silver, and had an amber crystal placed in it. There were silver bars across it, forming a sort of mask.

"This...this is from Kamen Rider Wizard!" He said aloud, looking at it sparkle in the light.

"Stop admiring it and put it on your finger!" LinKamina shouted, as Collin turned to look at him.

"Oh, right" he muttered, as he slid it onto his right middle finger. Light suddenly shown from his chest, forming a strange spiral pattern, made out of six "spokes".

"**Engage! Please!" **a voice suddenly called out from nowhere, as the ring began to light up like the fourth of July.

Looking at the ring, then at the Keyblade, and finally at the robot, he smiled.

"This, is gonna be EPIC!" He gloated, as he tightened his grip on the KeyBlade.

**Alvaro: 60 minutes ago**

Alvaro was amazed, as he looked over all the equipment Alex had placed in his house. Sure he had seen them when he put them in Collin's house, but this was different, seeing them in person.

"Ok, so I don't have a lot of time to do this," he reminded himself, as he thought back to what Collin had done. He had the punched card, and the hammer he grabbed from the tool closet was sitting on the couch. He was about to activate the machine, when he remembered something else.

"Whoa, I need stuff to put in that flashing ball!"

Rushing back to his room, Alvaro began to look around for stuff to assimilate. He spotted a poster from Skyrim he had gotten, which depicted the hero wearing a set of Hide Armor. He liked this poster, but had no real sentimental attachment to it. Tearing it from the wall, Alvaro looked around for the next item. Not sure what character he wanted as his guide, he sat down on his bed when he felt something under his butt. Standing up he saw an old plush toy of Pikachu there. Smiling, Alvaro picked it up

It had been his childhood toy, and now it would guide him in this quest. He was about to go back to the Cruxtruder, when his phone sounded off. Opening Skype, he saw a message from Alex,

Alex-Dude, I don't think we should play this game anymore

Alvaro-Wut? y not?

We have already seen this conversation.

**Collin: **

Collin let his soul power overflow, and felt it gather around the ring. The Wizard rune appeared, except this had the same strange spiral on it. Thrusting the KeyBlade into it, it began to spin around it, until it had enveloped the blade of the KeyBlade, creating a drill made out of pure magik,

"Giga Drill Breaker!" he shouted out, as he ran toward the mech, and punched the blade in through it. He was launched full force, like a missile. The energy drill shattered the mech into pieces, creating a large pile of Grist.

Collin just stood there, as his breathing returned to normal. His right arm was trembling, as the pure raw power was still coursing through it.

"That..that...was...AWESOME!" he cheered out, jumping into the air like a little kid.

"Whoa, that actually was kinda awesome." Steve acknowledged, and impressed look on his face.

Recovering, Collin began to make his way back to the house, when he heard a tone from his phone. It was another strange Text message.

"**Congratulations, you have leveled up to 'Beginner Imp Buster'! Do a little dance to celebrate!"** Smiling, Collin closed the box out, when he saw another new App had appeared.

He saw a little icon which looked like a poker chip, with a counter next to it

"That is your BoonDollar count" LinKamina explained, as he placed his arm over Collin's shoulder.

"And what, pray tell, is a BoonDollar?" Collin asked.

"It's dough, it's greenbacks, clams, it's money bro!" LinKamina explained, rubbing his fingers in the universal sign for "money".

"You can use that as currency to buy stuff from the locals" he added, pointing to above the crater.

"There are other people here?" Collin's mom asked.

"Yep, and they only way for Collin to meet them is for Alvaro to finish building the house up." LinKamina said, pointing to the Sburb icon that was creating new levels to Collin's house.

"That reminds me" Collin thought to himself, as he pulled out his iPhone.

Collin-Hey bud, how goes construction?

Alvaro- Pretty good, you got a ton of grist out of that fight, you should be able to just jump straight into the portal by the time I oh crap

Collin-What's wrong?

Alvaro- uh, I'm gonna have to get back to you on that

"Well that's just great, Alvaro's putting me on hold." Collin sighed to his family, until LinKamina snapped his fingers.

"Wings!" That's how you'll get up there!"

Just as Collin was about to ponder this, he heard the Skype noise from his phone.

Carlos-hey man, some1 said u had died

Collin-Dammit Alvaro... No, I am very much alive right now

Carlos-awesome

Collin-Very

Tired of answering questions about his livelyness, Collin locked his phone, as LinKamina appeared over his shoulder again.

"With that Kinda power, you're gonna have an awesome time on your adventure man! And don't worry about your folks, I'll be here to look out for them." LinKamina reassured him, patting his shoulder.

"Wait, you aren't going with him?" Jane asked.

"'Fraid not, Kernel Sprites are tied to the houses of the player, we can't leave beyond a hundred yards from the point of residence." LinKamina explained.

"Well that sucks." Collin moaned, kicking a rock at his foot.

"I can still message you though." LinKamina said.

"Oh, so kinda like Navi in Ocarina of Time?" Maria asked, as LinKamina nodded.

Collin smiled, as he checked Skype again, only to be brought back to the sobering aspects of this game.

Alex-Are you sure we should continue with this game?

Collin-Unfortunately, I think the meteors were on their way to earth, regardless of whether we played the game, so I say we take this ticket out of dodge

Alex-But a ticket to what?

Collin-I have no idea, but it has to be better than death

Alex-I guess you have a point there

Alex-So you managed to save your family?

Collin-Yeah

Alex-Alright, I'll try and get as many of my platoon in here as I can

At this line, LinKamina grabbed the phone from Collin, and began furiously typing on it.

Collin-Alex, this is LinKamina, Collin's Sprite

Alex-Oh, well, hi

Collin-Do NOT bring any more people into the Medium!

Alex-So we're just supposed to let everyone on earth die?!

Collin-Death by meteor is better than what could happen to someone that Skaia has not summoned to be her Champions

Alex-What do you mean by that?

Collin-I honestly cannot tell you, the Medium forbids us sprites from giving out spoilers of the game

Alex-So you know why and can't tell me, but I can't save anyone?

Collin-Pretty much

Alex-...Alright, fine, guess if I have no choice, guess I should get back to helping Alvaro get into the game

"Wait, I thought you preached about _breaking_ destiny?" Collin asked, grabbing his phone from LinKamina.

"Yeah, well, that was before I became a part of this game." LinKamina answered, a slight twinge of pain in his voice.

Deciding the best thing was to keep his mouth shut, that's exactly what Collin did.

However, Maria asked anyway.

"So, how come Collin could bring us, but no one else can bring people?" she asked, mistrust in her eyes

"Family is different, might have something to do with the Genetic sequences being the same." he answered, clearly being forced to grasp at straws by this point.

"Alright, that's enough, there are bigger issues here." Collin interjected, ready to get on with his quest.

"No, no, we need concrete answers here." his dad objected, walking over to the group.

"I told you, I can't tell you anymore." LinKamina whispered, losing his cool.

"Dad, this seriously doesn't matter." Collin tried to add.

"No, son, this does matter, we need to figure out everything logically and rationally before we do anything." he countered.

"Dad, for once, I just want to do something with my heart, not my head, and right now, my heart is telling me that I have a game to win." he responded, grabbing his chest.

Mike was about to continue arguing, when he saw the look of determination in his eyes.

"And there is nothing I can say to change your mind?" he asked, as his son shook his head.

"Alright, if this is something you have to do." his dad admitted in defense.

"Wait, Mike." Jane objected, grabbing his shoulder.

"This is something our son has to do on his own, to grow up, to become an adult." he reassured her, as she smiled, in agreement.

"WAIT!" Ginny cried out, running up to them.

"What are you talking about? There are other ways, less like-risky ways to prove himself. And who says he has to prove he's a man anyway? He is already a man, my sweet little guy," she pleaded, as Collin shook his head.

"No Aunt Ginny, I don't have to prove anything to my parents, I want to prove to myself that I am a man, that I am ready for whatever life can through at me".

"But, you're just a sweet innocent angel." She protested, trying to pull him into a hug, but Collin just stepped back.

"No, I'm not, you have to learn to let me go my own way, as I'm going on this quest, and I'm going to win this game." Collin said, putting his foot down.

She looked down, clearly realizing there was nothing she could say to change his mind.

"Well, now that we have that decided, you need to work on your Hero Outfit." LinKamina segued, popping up next to Collin.

"Hero outfit?"

"Of course, every hero needs some awesome threads!" he said, putting his arm around Collin's shoulder.

"And what's wrong with those clothes?" Jane asked.

"Well, they're ok, but not really the totally awesome threads a hero should wear." LinKamina explained.

"Well, I think you'll have to settle for them, as I don't see any Targets around here." She retorted.

"Pfft, who said anything about _buying_ clothes?" He rolled his eyes, as Maria looked up with peaked interest.

**Alvaro: 20 minutes prior**

Alvaro-So can I get on with this game? I think I c the big rock in the sky

Alex-Yeah man, go for it, I don't think we have a choice anymore

Alvaro-Sweet! Now stand back and watch me do my thing!

Wasting no time, Alvaro grabbed his action replay device and the poster he had of the studded armor from Skyrim. He made his way to the Cruxtruder, and with a swift swing of the Hammer, he knocked the top off. From the top, a blue crystal cylinder emerged, as did the flashing blue ball of light.

Remembering how Collin had done this, Alvaro tossed the poster in first, as the ball flashed while it assimilated it. Lines began to draw themselves on it, until they had formed a rough sketch of the Hide Helmet. Next, Alvaro, looked down at the Pikachu plushy, and regretted getting rid of it for a second. However, the beeping of the timer brought him back to his senses, and he then threw the stuffed animal at the ball, as it absorbed it too.

More lines were added to the drawing, and the face was now of Pikachu wearing the Hide Helmet.

Smiling to himself, Alvaro then grabbed the crystal dowel. He made his way back to the Totem Lathe, and held the object up to the pistons, as he turned the wheel, securing it. Slotting the punched card in, he pressed the power button. The laser shot down from the extruding overhang, and carved the crystal.

Alvaro smiled as he saw it looking just like the one Collin had created. Once the laser shut off, Alvaro carefully removed the crystal from the slot. He was expecting it to be burning hot, but it was actually quite cool.

Racing to the Alchemiter that was placed in his living room, Alvaro placed the Crystal Dowel on the scanner, as the robot arm came to life, and began to scan the item.

Alvaro watched as the sky began to glow, the same glow he had seen in Collin's house. His pulse quickening, he saw a light emerge from the machine, as a glowing blue bookcase emerged, then vanished as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a textbook.

"Wow, this thing really does know I hate reading" he muttered to himself, as he grabbed the textbook.

Remembering that Collin had to destroy his artifact in some way, Alvaro quickly opened the book covers. Grabbing the pages of the book, and he tore with all his might. The pages flew all over the room, leaving him standing there holding the empty cover. Soon, the artifact vanished in a bright flash of life, and everyplace a sheet of paper had landed, that spot began to glow white too. Soon, the light spread outward, engulfing Alvaro's apartment, just as it had done to Collin's house.

Smiling, Alvaro felt the Light overtake him, and his vision went white.

**Collin: The present**

Returning from his Room, Collin held up his phone.

"Alright, I got my Hero mode outfit ready" Collin said, as he opened an app.

"Fine, let's see it" his mom sighed, as he pressed an icon on his phone, and he was surrounded by bright light.

His clothes were phased off and he was covered in a strange green mist-like substance. As he spun around, energy began to cover and form new clothes on him. He gained black shorts with purple stripes in them, a light blue and magenta tie-die shirt, a silver bracelet on his left wrist, a full arm navy gauntlet on his right arm, an emerald and gold crystal necklace, and small, fairy wings were formed on his back. His hair flashed, as it turned orange, and a crimson strike appeared in it. On his waist a leather belt generated, and an aquamarine chain appeared, connecting to a case for his iPhone.

As the light vanished, his family stood in shock.

"No, you are not wearing that outside" his mother flatly stated, as he rolled his eyes.

"And why not?" LinKamina asked, placing his hands on his hips.

"Because, it looks ridiculous" she answered.

"Aunt Jane, have you ever _seen_ anime at all? They all look ridiculous" Henry snarked.

"Well, true, but that doesn't mean he can walk around this place looking so crazy."

"Well I think he looks great." Aunt Ginny suddenly said, from her spot on the couch.

The others all turned to her in stunned silence.

"I, I guess you can take care of yourself now, you don't need me to take care of you." she said tears in her eyes.

"And, when you finish seeing this world, we will be right here, waiting for you with open arms."

Collin just stared at, quizzically, as LinKamina appeared next to him.

"Ookay, so anyway, I got you some extra gear." He said, as he grabbed Collin's hand.

"Here, take these." LinKamina offered, placing something into Collin's hand. Opening it, Collin saw that there were three Rings, but they were big and gaudy looking. They each had a carving of a dragon on them over what looked like Amber, but each one was different. One was in a circle, the next was super imposed over a larger picture of itself, and the last had a carving of a foot attached to it.

"Whoa, awesome! Wizard Rings!" Collin said in joy, looking at the props come to life in his hands.

"Yep, I made those out of some of that Amberillium Grist you scored, Bro." LinKamina answered, tossing his hair.

"Find me more of that special Grist, and I can make more for ya!" he said, slapping Collin on the back.

"Uh, thanks!" he called, as he grabbed his backpack, and made for the door.

"Don't forget us!" Maria called, as Collin turned to see Maria and Henry standing behind them, wearing their own backpacks. Collin was about to complain, when he just sighed, smiled, and said "Sure, I'd be happy to ride with you." he said, as his family suddenly broke into simultaneous objection.


	3. The Land of Paradise and Frogs

Alvaro opened his eyes, as the white light finally died down. As he looked around, he saw that his apartment was undamaged.

Strangely, the color outside his house was still white.

"Did that not work? Am I actually…" He asked himself, before making his way to the window. As he carefully undid the latch and lifted it up, he felt a blast of cold air hit him. Looking out, he saw that landscape was covered with white powder, like snow.

"Oh man, not more snow, I hate winter," Alvaro whined, as he shut the window. However, just before he could, he heard a howl. Not just any howl, but the howl of a beast he would not want to meet in a dark alley, "Oh, right, forgot there are monsters here."

Quickly backing up into the Kitchen, he turned around to find a place to hide, when he ran into the glowing ball of light.

"Ow, that hurt." he groaned, as he massaged the bruise on his cheek. Looking up, he watched in amazement as the ball of light began to flash faster and faster, until it split in half. One flew up towards the heavens, and one flew down into the ground. All that was left was the cartoon outline of Pikachu in a hide helmet.

The outline began to fill with color, turning a shade of royal blue. The colored light flowed out of the outline, and it began to form a tail. The light kept expanding, until it formed a humanoid shape, with ghost like tail for legs. Finally, the head flashed, before becoming a full shape.

"Pika!" it cried, as it jumped at Alvaro, pulling his face into a hug.

"Wait, what's going on?" Alvaro asked, pulling the creature off his face.

"I'm your guardian Sprite, Alvaro: PikaSprite!" he said, as he floated around the boy's head.

"Wow, a talking pikachu, and he's all mine!" Alvaro cheered, as he pulled the confused Sprite into a hug.

"Yeah, that's nice and all, but we do have a schedule to keep here." the sprite reminded him as he wriggled out of the boy's arms.

"Oh, right, the quest thingies." Alvaro said, as the howl sounded again from off in the distance, though it seemed closer than before...

"Yep, and first thing you need to do is make some weapons."

Collin

Collin, Maria and Henry were flying through a vortex of light and color, as strange and exotic shapes and symbols flew all around them.

"Man, I can't believe you were able to convince the adults that you guys could come with me." Collin told his cousin with pride.

"Hey, I am the king of schmoozing." Henry replied, pointing to himself with his finger.

"So any of you guys know where we're gonna end up?" Maria asked as she spun in a circle, possibly bored.

"Nope."

"Not a one."

"That's comforting." she moaned. She had more questions, but before they could be asked, the end of the tunnel came into view.

"Oh, all right guys, here's our exit." Henry called, as the three passed through the exit portal.

Immediately Collin was assaulted in the face, as a giant leaf smacked him. He was his by another, and another, before he realized he was falling straight into a forest

"Oh shit…" he groaned "Ow, oh, ack, argh, gah, oof…" He moaned, as he fell through the canopy of the trees, before finally crashing into the ground.

"Well, that was…_fun._" he growled, as his cousins finished crashing through the trees, landing on top of him.

"You were joking, right?" Henry asked, as Maria picked herself up.

As Collin looked up, he saw the landscape was pretty similar to what he had left, though it was much more open.

"Alright, time to see what's out there." Collin told the two, as he got to his feet. The three set off, ready to begin their adventure.

**Carlos: two days ago**

We see a young man sitting in a chair, leaning back as far as he can, trying to be relaxed and chill.

Enter name: Gangsta Broface

That's not it.

Enter name: Carlos Martinez

You like VIDEO GAMES, though not to the extent Alvaro does. You have a passion for COMEDIC MOVIES, and POPULAR TELEVISION PROGRAMS. Your CAR is your pride and joy. You have a near obsession with PARTYING. You are both HISPANIC and ITALIAN. You like GIRLS. You definitely like GIRLS. You have modeled your personality after the GANGSTA STYLE.

You are currently sitting alone in your room, in your brand new apartment. You had recently moved out of your parent's place, and your space was still full of empty boxes you needed to unpack, but were just too lazy to deal with. You were especially putting it off tonight. You had plans to play a game with some friends.

Yawning, Carlos stretched his arms behind his head, as he looked to the side. Sitting there on the table was the open Sburb Box. As he stretched, he felt something land in his lap. Looking down, he saw it was one of his puppies. He had two puppies, which were his pride and joy.

Signing into Skype, he head a chime go off, as his friend was trying to contact him.

Alex-Heeeey Carlos!

Carlos-alex my main man!

We have already seen this conversation.

**Collin**

After several minutes of traveling, the three Martin children were getting tired of the never changing landscape.

"Rocks… rocks… and…. more rocks." Maria groaned, as she sat down on a giant sapphire jutting from the ground "That's all there is on this planet!"

"We have been walking for hours and still haven't seen anything worthwhile." Collin groaned

"Hey guys what's that?" Henry called, a few feet away, looking ahead.

"Very funny, just like it was the last six times you told that joke." Collin grumbled, resting on his KeyBlade

"No, this time I'm dead serious." he said, pointing in the distance.

Deciding to humor him one last time, Collin looked in the direction his cousin was pointing, and felt his jaw drop. There were several bright lights, almost like a city...

Without losing a beat, the trio leapt from where they were, and rushed toward the sight.

"God, I hope this ain't a mirage." Collin said to the others, as they saw it get closer and closer. Finally, they skidded to a stop at the edge of the city, their faces wearing an expression of shock.

Without saying a word, Collin pulled out if iPhone, and texted his parents.

"We are not alone here." It took only seconds for a reply to arrive.

"What's out there?" His mom texted, as his eyes went wide.

"You won't believe it." he responded.

"Why, what is it?"

"An entire civilization… of Corgis."

Collin was astounded. He looked out at a strange metropolis, which seemed to be a fusion of Tokyo and Whiterun from Skyrim. Like a meeting of old and new culture. There were strange, bioluminescent trees growing over the lighting areas. As the Corgis rode around on little hover cars. However, their houses seemed to be made out of simple wood and stone (or in this case, Sapphire). Though, there were strange pillars dotted around the village, each one smashed and destroyed, yet there seemed to be no hurry to repair them.

"This is the most adorable thing I have ever seen." Henry admitted. The group walked into the City boundaries, as they walked through the sea of Corgis, before they heard a voice.

"You there, tall people, who are you?"

**Carlos**

Carlos was mildly freaking out, as this game had just cause two of his friends to vanish, and was now about to do the same to Alex. However, Carlos was not the type to panic. He rarely got freaked out, at least not to the point where you would know just by looking at him.

Instead Carlos had decided to himself that what was happening must just be what must be, so he had spent the last few hours pushing stuff out of the way in his house so all the equipment would fit into it, and had run to the store to stock up on supplies for him and his puppies.

"No clue where we'll end up guys, so better be prepared for anything" he told the pups

**Alvaro **

As Alvaro was digging around in the tool closet, trying to find something, as PikaSprite kept watch.

"You need something that suits your personality, something that can be effective - Pika." the Sprite called, as it looked out the window.

"I think I found it!" Alvaro called, as he emerged from the tool room, holding a sledgehammer.

"That'll work." PikaSprite commented, as he lead the boy over to the Alchemiter.

"Now, I will teach you how to make weapons." PikaSprite explained, as Alvaro held up his hand.

"No need, I saw Collin make them before me."

"Oh, well, in that case go right ahead." PikaSprite responded, looking slightly taken aback.

Alvaro grabbed his iPad, and pulled out the stylus which had just been added to it.

"So I'm gonna need this hammer, this figure of Sauron, and this ruby Ring." he said to himself, as he began to make little drawings of them on his iPad, and each one was then sucked into the device, creating a Captchalogue card.

**Collin**

"I asked, who you three are?" one of the Corgis asked. He looked slightly older than the rest. He was wearing a top hat with a monocle, had a large handlebar mustache, and a mayoral sash around his torso.

"I'm Collin, this is Maria, and this is Henry." Collin introduced them, as the Mayor inspected them carefully.

"Hrm, well, my name is Windsor, Mayor Windsor. Welcome to our humble village." he said, as he gestured to the town, in a grand fashion.

"My name is Blake, what brings you to our humble town?" One of the Corgis asked, walking up to them.

"Well, we were sorta dropped here out of the sky." Maria explained, as all the corgis began to whisper to themselves.

"Wait, you couldn't be the prophesized...Heir...could you?" he asked.

"Heir?" Collin asked.

"Yes, it was passed down that one day, a hero known as the Heir of Space would show up, and liberate our land from the cruel tyranny of the Denizen, Echidna." Blake explained, as he hopped onto a pillar next to the group.

"Now Blake, you know better than to believe every crazy rumor that we pass down through the ages" Windsor corrected him, as the dog's ears lowered.

"Though, he obviously isn't from here, so he could be it." the mayor backpeddled, as he scratched his chin.

"So, how can we know if he is the hero of legends?" Blake whined, as the Mayor snapped his fingers.

"There is one way to see if he is the chosen one." the Mayor explained. "He must face _the ogre._"

"Say what?" Collin asked dryly, a look of dull surprise on his face.

"Every Tuesday afternoon, a giant ogre breaks through the city gates, and wrecks our humble town."

"Why every Tuesday." Maria asked, picking the Mayor up in her arms.

"Cause it's primetime…for him to cause destruction." he explained, as Maria scratched behind his ears "Oh that feels so good…"

As if right on cue, a load roar echoed through the forest just outside of town.

"Let me guess, its primetime?" Henry asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Yep" Blake replied, as he joined the other Corgis in running into their shelters.

"Now, go young man. If you are who you say you are then you should have no trouble in slaying this wretched beast" The mayor commanded, as he stayed in the safety of Maria's arms.

"Alright dude, you are going…down?" Collin asked in surprise, as the Ogre finally appeared from the forest. It was a colossal beast, at least thirty feet high. It had a large bulky frame yet hugely disproportionate arms. There were crystals of Sapphire jutting out of its hide. It had only one eye, and a large Sapphire horn on its forehead. He was holding a club made out of pure Amberillium.

"Oh crap." Collin said, his eyes wide in shock. Taking advantage of Collin's pause, the Ogre made the first move.

"STRIFE!" A strange voice called out, as the Ogre attacked.

The Ogre bashed Collin with his Club, sending him flying. After rolling a few times after landing, Collin eased himself up, before noting that he was flashing red, and a beeping noise appeared above him. Looking up, he saw a bar floating in the sky, glowing green. He watched as the bar seemed to slide out of the left side slightly.

"Oh shit, that's my life!" Collin gasped, as he saw it blink once, before vanishing. Managing to leap out of the way, Collin avoided the Ogre's deadly assault. He turned to see the Club about to connect with his fist, when he suddenly felt the world start to shake, as his vision became magenta and blue. He grabbed the club, and began to spin around it. After five rotations, he let go, and kicked at the Ogre's head. It staggered back, as Collin shakily landed.

"That power, it is the Flowmotion ability!" Windsor exclaimed, as the Corgis were all looking out their windows and doors

"Flowmotion?" Henry asked

"The ability to move without moving one's body" Blake explained, hopping into his arms. "It's one of the abilities said to be possessed by the Hero of Space"

Collin looked at the Ogre, as his phone beeped, and a beam of light shot out of its holster, hovering over the Ogre's head. It displayed another health bar, which lowered slightly

"Now we're getting somewhere" Collin grinned, as he crouched low to the ground, and brandished the KeyBlade. His vision got crazy again, as he was suddenly launched at the Ogre. He tossed the KeyBlade around, and swiped at the Ogre. However, he heard his weapon make a pathetic "Ding" sound on the Ogre. Looking up, he saw it begin to chuckle

"Oh shit" he moaned

**Alvaro**

Alvaro smiled as he saw the Alchemiter finish crafting his weapon. Carefully grabbing the handle, he swung it around, admiring his craftsmanship. The shaft was sleek and black, ending in a hook at the bottom. At the business end, the back part was a giant demon claw sticking out, as the hammer part of the weapon looked like a demon hand grasping a ruby

"Wow, the DEADRIC WARHAMMER! This is so cool!" Alvaro said in awe, as he admired his weapon.

"Alright kid, you are ready-pika!" his sprite said, as he lead him outside.

As Alvaro's eyes adjusted to the bright blue sunlight, he saw the land was indeed covered in powdered snow. However, that was not all there was. He could see strange shapes off in the distance. He could not tell what they were, but they seemed familiar somehow.

"Oh great, I was right, more snow" He groaned, as he pulled his iPad out, and messaged Alex

Alvaro-Ok dude, I made it to...wherever it is I am

Alex- Sweet dude!

Alvaro-So, I think you're supposed to build my house or something

Alex- Yeah, that's right.

Alvaro-Or, are you escaping from your meteor right now?

Alex- Actually right now I'm waiting for Carlos to get back from whatever he's doing, so I guess I have time to do that now

Alvaro-Oh, well I hope he gets back soon

Alex- Yeah no kidding. Alright time to get wait

Alvaro-What?

Alex- It looks like there's another piece of equipment we can install

Alvaro-Really, what?

Alex- looks like a CD

Dragging the CD to the screen, Alex saw it drop onto the couch

Alex-I just put it on your couch

Alvaro-Alright, I'll install it

Alvaro went back inside to grab the cd, as his sprite floated along with him

"Oh right, I need to tell you about GristTorrent-Pika" PikaSprite said, as he floated around Alvaro's head

"GristTorrent?"

"It allows all the players of a Sburb Session to share their grist with each other-Pika" Shrugging, Alvaro put the CD into his computer, as he saw a new program open in the Sburb window. It was a list, containing pictures of apparently every kind of grist, with counters and progress bars next to each.

"Wow, I think I have access to Collin's grist here" he said, as he saw the impressive numbers next to the Grist counters

"Yep, and once all the others are logged in and signed up with GristTorrent, you can use theirs too-Pika!"

Smiling, Alvaro told all this to Alex

Alex- Wow, good thing Collin's been busy, I think we have plenty to make a skyscraper for you

Alvaro-Sounds good uh-oh

Alex- What?

Alvaro-I heard that roar outside again

Alex- That must be your first opponent, go fight 'em!

Alvaro-Oh, ok, guess I should

Alvaro slowly got out of his chair, as he held the Daedric Hammer tight.

"Don't worry dude-Pika!" his sprite reassured him

"That's easy for you to say, you're the legendary Pikachu, all I am is a video game nerd" Alvaro whimpered, as PikaSprite grabbed his face

"Hey, don't say that, you don't know what you can do-Pika" the little mouse said, as he turned Alvaro to the door

"Ok, if you say so, I'll try" He said, as he went back outside. As he walked away from his house, he turned to see the Sburb Symbol was now moving around the top of his house, and dragging square shapes. Every time Alex let go, a new room was added to his house. Alex was even dragging stairs down to help him out.

Within minutes, he heard that same howl again, though it was only yards away now. Turning to the Snow scape, he saw a pile of rocks were moving through it. It seemed to be burrowing through the snow, like Bugs Bunny

Suddenly, a shadow burst out of the ground, and revealed itself to be wolf like. It was a large hulking canine, with lime green Crystals jutting out of its jet-black skin

"It's a Peridot Wolf-Pika!" PikaSprite exclaimed

"Peridot?" he asked

"It's a gemstone-Pika" the sprite replied, as the Wolf tensed up, and leapt at Alvaro. Alvaro panicked and swung wildly with the hammer, as he screamed his head off. He felt the hammer collide with something, as a small "poof" was heard. Opening his eyes, he saw that in the snow was a pile of grist, which was quickly absorbed by his iPad

"I...I did it!" He exclaimed, as he jumped in the air.

"Nice work-Pika, but be ready, here come some more-Pika" PikaSprite said, as Alvaro looked out at the landscape. Sure enough, he could see more protrusions moving through the snow. Gripping the hammer, he smiled.

**Carlos**

Carlos felt bad about ditching Alex for this long, but he needed to give his puppies some food and water first, and make sure they were completely ready.

"There you go guys, eat up." he told them, as he finished filling their dishes with kibble.

Carlos was pouring water into his puppy's water dish when he heard the Skype chat chime go off.

Alex-You ready to start?

Carlos-Yeah Bro, guess I might as well

Wasting no time, Carlos grabbed the CD out of its sleeve, and put it into his computer. Alex did the same on his end. They both watched as the Sburb logo flashed before them, as the game loaded. Within minutes, Alex's screen closed out, and Carlos found himself looking at the army base.

Carlos-Wow dude, pretty impressive space you got there

Alex-thanks, I still can't believe I finally got stationed in Iran

Alex-Hey, you can see the whole place, right?

Carlos-Yeah, why?

Alex-Cause we've had reports of a cheetah sneaking onto the base

Carlos-There are cheetahs in Iran?

Alex-yeah, the Iranian Cheetah, one of the coolest creatures around, and its endangered.

Carlos-and one is on the base?

Alex-Well, that's what the rumors are, and I just want to find it. And maybe dress it like a samurai...

Carlos-...Okaaaay

Carlos- Well anyway, time to start placing crap in there

Alex-Wait, just, be careful, and quiet

Carlos-Whaaat? Why?

Alex-Cause, I'm not exactly supposed to be doing this in here

Carlos-Whatever dude, do u want a meteor taking you out?

Alex-Well when you put it like that...

Carlos did not give Alex a chance to interrupt again, as he grabbed the Cruxtruder and placed it behind him, causing the room to shake.

Alex-I said be quiet about it!

Ignoring him, Carlos scrolled out of the Computer Lab, and found the Barracks. Making sure no one was in them, he placed the Alchemiter and then grabbed the punched card, bringing it back to Alex.

Alex-Where did you put the Alchemiter?

Carlos-In your bedroom

Alex-You mean the barracks?

Carlos-Sure, let's call it that

Alex-THAT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BASE!

Carlos-Sorry, I was trying to put things in empty rooms

Annoyed, Alex looked at the Cruxtruder. Seeing the stopper, Alex quickly formed a plan. He backed up a few yards, before running at the machine. Kicking off with his feet, jumping high enough to slam his fist into the machine, causing it to pulsate and flash, before the top vaporized. As Alex landed, he saw the Kernelsprite fly out, and he quickly caught the totem that followed.

Alex-Ok, where's the Totem Lathe?

Carlos-I'm about to place it in the cafeteria

Alex-You mean the mess hall?

Carlos-Sure, let's call it that. Oh and here's the punched card

Grabbing the floating card from the Sburb logo, Alex carefully opened the door, and checked to make sure the hall was clear. Seeing nobody approaching, he took off at a run, racing to get to the Mess hall.

**Collin**

Collin was not having a lot of luck against the Sapphire Ogre, as his weapon was practically useless by now, and the Flowmotion ability wasn't letting land any critical hits.

"Should we help?" Henry asked, as Collin jumped away from the ogre's fists

"No, it's good, I got this guy" Collin called out, as he swiped again with the KeyBlade, only for the it to barely scratch the ogre.

"Man, why didn't I make more weapons before I leapt into the portal?" Collin asked, looking at his KeyBlade, which was beginning to show nicks and scrapes on it.

"What about the rings LinKamina gave you?" Maria called out to him.

"Oh, right" He said to himself, as he grabbed the three rings.

"Alright, let's try this one!" Collin muttered to himself, as he placed the "Big" Ring on his middle finger. He held it down to his waist, but didn't hear the sound of it being activated. It was then that he realized that he hadn't been given any way of activating the rings!

"Dammit LinKamina!" Collin shouted, as he took off running, away from the Amberillium Ogre.

"Wow, our great protector" Blake moaned, placing his head in his paws.

Collin kept running, until he tripped over a rock, and placed his right hand on his chest

"Big, _PLEASE._"the announcer voice suddenly called out, as Collin saw his chest was lighting up in the spiral pattern again. Before him the giant floating rune appeared, the exact same as Kamen Rider Wizard used, though instead of the Wizard symbol in the middle, it was the same spiral symbol from his chest.

Shoving his arm into it, he saw his arm grow tenfold as it came out the other end. Smiling, Collin brought his fist swinging down hard onto the ogre, crushing it. As Collin lifted his hand up and out of the rune, he saw a modest pile of Grist, and plenty of Amberillium.

**Alvaro**

Alvaro was having about the same luck against his first foes. He was swinging the Daedric Warhammer around, warding off the Peridot Wolves, as he kept glancing at his house. Slowly but surely, Alex was adding room after room to it, making it taller and taller.

"I don't really like big houses, but in this case I guess I shouldn't complain" Alvaro said to himself, as he slammed the hammer down on one of the wolves, turning it into a pile of Grist.

Alex-That's good, keep collecting that Grist

Alvaro-Just make sure the house reaches that portal.

Alex- No problem, I'm just waiting for Carlos to finish with whatever he is doing before he can get me into the game, so I have some spare time.

Putting his phone back in his bag, he took out two more wolves, as he spurn his hammer around.

"This thing is so cool!" he said, as he kept whacking the Wolves, and absorbing the Grist. He groaned when he suddenly heard the Skype chat go off on his iPad.

"Bad timing guys" he hissed, as he was using the shaft of the hammer to block a wolf's jaws.

A bolt of electricity suddenly shattered the wolf. As Alvaro looked up, he saw PikaSprite hovering there.

"Nice timing little buddy!" he called, when he heard the Skype Chat go off. Sighing, he fished it out of his bag to answer it.

Alex-Alright, I ran out of Grist to make actual rooms

Alvaro-Oh come on, I've been slaying these wolves like crazy!

Alex-Ah, let me finish. I ran out of Grist to make actual rooms, but I have enough to make simple stairs, so I'm building a staircase to the portal now

Alvaro-Oh, alright

As Alvaro closed Skype, PikaSprite grabbed the iPad.

"It sure is gonna get hard for you to talk to your friends with this thing when you are using your hands. I have an idea, I'll be right back" he said, as he floated off, back into the house.

**Carlos**

Carlos carefully dragged the Totem Lathe onto the screen, and unlike Alex and Alvaro had, he slowly and carefully set the machine down so as not to alert the superiors as to what they were doing.

Alex raced into the mess hall, and saw the machine sitting there. Wasting no time, he locked the totem into place, and put the punch card into it. The thing whirred to life, and quickly carved the crystal into a vase-like object. As it was released from the machine, Alex grabbed it and took off running, making it through the halls as he entered the barracks

"Why didn't Carlos just put everything in one room?" he griped to himself, as he burst into the room, only to freeze as he saw a bunch of other recruits were standing around the machine, trying to figure out what it was.

"Hey Marinick, you got any idea what this is?" one asked, as he stammered.

"What'cha got there?" Another asked, noticing the Totem.

"What I wouldn't give for a distraction right now" he whispered to himself, when the entire base was filled with flashing lights and sirens.

"That's the evacuation alarm!"

"Something's coming!"

"We better gear up!"

"That will work" Alex thought to himself as the others ran out of the room.

Turning back to his machine, he placed the totem on the scanner and the Robot arm extended, and began to read the information carved on the dowel. Alex then began to feel a strange rumble in the ground, as the windows began to turn faint crimson.

"Crap, it's here already!" he yelled aloud, as he noticed the flashing yellow orb had now caught up with him.

Looking around, he soon saw something that caught his eye. It was a poster of a set of Samurai armor his brother Joey had sent him in a care package.

"That'll have to do" he said to himself, as he ripped it off the wall. He then tossed it at the ball, which absorbed it. The thing began to flash more rapidly now, as lines drew themselves on it, forming a caricature of a samurai helmet. The machine beeped as it finished loading the data, and a beam of yellow light shot up, and formed into a strange tunnel, before a large sheet of paper was moved out of it.

Groaning, Alex saw that it was a target sheet, the same kind he used for gun practice

"And I guess I need a gun to break it" he growled, as he ran out of the barracks, going in the opposite direction, towards the weapon stock.

**Collin**

"You did it! You slayed the Ogre!" the mayor cheered, as confetti began to fall from seemingly nowhere.

"By the way, what kind of weapon were you using there, at the beginning?" he asked, looking at Collin.

"Oh, this KeyBlade" he replied, summoning it from Hammerspace.

"By the twelve, this is the Key of Legends, as prophesized by the speaker of the vast croak" The mayor gasped, as did the crowd.

"What are you talking about?" Collin asked, as the mayor began to lead them away.

"He who created our universe left us a temple so that we may worship him, but it was sealed off by the Imps, who wish to see his following snuffed out.

"Is that why all those statues in the town square were smashed?" Maria asked.

"Precisely" he replied, as he lead the group down a dirt path, until about an hour later they arrived at a large rock wall, which seemed to have a crater in the middle of it. Looking at the very top, Collin could just barely make out what could be a temple, and above that...

"That looks like the next portal" Henry whispered, as Collin nodded.

"In order for us to once again enter the temple and worship his highness, we need the bearer of the Destiny Key to open the crack of fate, to part the rock walls of events predetermined.

"Do what with the who now?" Collin asked, thoroughly confused.

"Put the Key in the crack" Blake instructed, pointing to a giant whole in the wall, which did seem to resemble a keyhole.

Placing the KeyBlade into the Stone indentation, Collin watched as light began pouring along the lines of the carvings, illuminating the entire surface.

"Now, turn it!" Windsor commanded. Rotating the Keyblade, Collin heard a sound like a lock opening. All the lights on the rock were glowing brighter and brighter, until it formed one giant wall of light.

"Collin!" a voice cried out, as Collin turned to see his parents were running up to him.

"What are you doing back here?" they asked, after giving him a hug.

"Apparently our house is a holy site for these guys" Collin replied, as he parents looked behind him.

"These guys?" His mom asked, as she looked at the sea of corgis.

"Oh boy." Uncle Steve gasped, as Aunt Ginny looked like she was about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war!" his dad called, as the Corgis began to wander into the valley. Screaming, Collin's Aunt ran back into the house, and locked the door.

"What's her deal?" Blake asked, looking up at Collin.

"No one really knows." he sighed, as he picked the Corgis up.

"So what is this about our house being a holy place?" his dad asked, as he looked at the Mayor

"Well not your house specifically, more like it's IN a holy place. The real holy site is atop the tower, where the waterfall flows from." he explained, pointing with his paw.

"Alright, before we head out, got some more for ya." LinKamina said, as Collin saw two new rings appear in his inventory. One had the dragon duplicated four times, and the other had it bound by three chains.

"And here, a bonus gift" he said, presenting Collin with a chain, which had five locks on it, each the size of a band on one of the wizard rings.

"Oh cool." Collin said, as he clipped it on his belt, and slotted the five rings he had onto it.

"As you get more rings, they will automatically shuffle themselves with the rings in your inventory, so have easy access to them."

"Nice. Well, let's get going." Collin said, as he lead the pilgrimage to the temple.

**Alvaro**

As Alvaro watched his house, the construction of the staircase stopped. However, he wasn't too concerned, as he saw the stairs ended right at the portal.

"Time to set off" He said, before he felt a paw on his shoulder

"Not without this-Pika" PikaSprite said, as he handed Alvaro back his iPad

"What did you do with this thing?" he asked, looking it over

"Oh, nothing. It's THESE I created" the Sprite said, as he took Alvaro's glasses off, and put on a pair that seemed exactly identical.

"What's that different about them?" he asked, when he suddenly heard the Skype chime go off. Gasping at what he saw, Collin's green type had begun to scroll across his glasses

Collin-Hey, so I apparently found out something interesting

Alvaro-And I got something interesting

Collin-Really? What?

Alvaro-My Sprite made me a pair of glasses that seem to have Skype built into them

Collin-Whoa really? That's awesome

Alvaro-Yeah, so what was your thing?

Collin-Well, apparently we each have an aspect that goes with our avatar

Alvaro-Really? Like what?

Collin-Well, I seem to be the Hero of Space, and you are the Hero of Mind

Alvaro-Mind!? What kinda lameass power is that?

Collin-Hey it could be worse, it could be heart

Alvaro-Oh, yeah, wouldn't want to be as useless as Ma-Ti

Collin-And Alex is Blood

Alvaro-He's a vampire?

Collin-I have no idea. Anyway, we need to hope into this portal, which I think will take us to your planet

Alvaro-Really? So we could actually meet and hang out?

Collin-I guess

Alvaro-Awesome man! Can't wait!

Alvaro blinked, as the text faded from his vision, as he saw there were no more wolves around

"Alright, you need to get going-Pika" his Spire urged, pushing him to his stairs

"You got it little buddy" he said, as he started running up the stairs.

**Alex**

After making it through five hallways, Alex finally reached the one that lead back outside. As Alex sailed out the door, he failed to notice the Iranian Cheetah slipping in the open door. He managed to evade the jeeps and tanks that were moving around, as he finally made it to the weapons hanger. As he yanked the door open, he could now see the meteor in the sky. It looked no bigger than a dime. Tearing his eyes away from the vision of destruction, he entered the stock.

**Alvaro**

As Alvaro made his way up the giant staircase, he heard a giant roar off in the distance. Looking back, he saw that it was a giant dragon

**Collin**

As the group climbed the stairs, Collin heard a familiar fluttering sound. As they emerged at the top, he saw the area was teeming with butterflies. Monarch Butterflies to be specific.

The area looked just as beautiful as the last had been, but this seemed to have a strange serenity to it.

Two shadows leapt out of the temple, as the group gasped. They were both Imps, but they were different. They were much taller, about Collin's height, and they looked more humanoid. They carried themselves differently, as they were clothed differently. Instead of wearing the black versions of Link's outfit, they were wearing Hid straps across their chests, and had hide skirts, and metal helmets

"That's hide armor, from Skyrim" Henry said, as he grabbed the Knife that was strapped to his belt.

"No, these guys are stronger than regular Imps, I should take them" Collin said, as he walked toward them. Collin's mom held up her arm to try to stop him, but his dad stopped her, shaking his head

Collin started to walk at the Imps, then broke into a run, holding the KeyBlade up. He then felt the flowmotion power explode from his soul, as he leapt up at the Imps. One suddenly vanished, while the other just stood there.

Collin was ready to strike the Hide Imp, when the second attacked him from behind. He turned to face the second, when the first struck him in the back with what Collin could only assume was the Steel WarHammer from Skyrim. He turned to look back, as the second one kicked him in the gut. Doubling over, Collin felt the wind knocked out of him. His phone chimed again, as a hologram appeared from it, displaying his life bar.

"Damn" he hissed, wiping the sweat from his brow "Flowmotion isn't gonna be enough to take these guys"

"Collin, divide and conquer!" LinKamina shouted, as Collin looked down at the KeyChain on his belt.

"So, I should just have to do this, right?" Collin asked himself, as he slipped the Copy Ring on his finger, and then held it to his chest.

"Copy, PLEASE" it called out, as his chest glowed, and the Spiral rune appeared next to him and levitated upward, creating a duplicate of Collin.

"Cool!" they both said, as they moved in the same way, before looking up to see the Hide Armored Imps swinging down at them. Flipping backwards, the Collins dodged, before drawing their KeyBlades.

"Engage, PLEASE!" the two symbols called out, as the energy drills surrounded the KeyBlades, and the two Collin's took off like rockets, as they crashed into the Imps. As they both landed, the Clone turned to look at Collin and smile, before he vanished in a flash of light.

"Hooray! The temple is now safe!" Windsor called out, as he urged Maria on further. They walked up the steps, as Collin couldn't help but notice that on top of it was a giant stone Frog

"He is our deity, the Speaker of the vast croak" Blake explained, as the group walked into the main temple.

"You all worship a frog?" Maria asked, as Windsor looked up in confusion

"Don't you?"

As Collin ignored the Corgis, he walked to the far wall of the temple, and was puzzled by what he saw there. It was a carving, of fifteen symbols. The one in the center bore the spiragraph pattern of Sburb, as the one immediately outside seemed to be carved of a lighter stone, while the farthest one was carved with a darker stone. But was intrigued Collin more was the twelve symbols in the main part of the wall. Especially the very top one, which was the same six spoke spiral that appeared on his chest.

They seemed to be arranged in a circular pattern; The six spoke spiral, a circle with three wavey tails coming from the sides of it, what looked like a bleeding cut, another six spoke spiral though the angle was slightly off, a pointy skull, a strange angry looking face, a gear, two wavey lines on top of each other, a sun, two wavey lines next to each other, what looked like a pair of angel wings, and finally a heart.

These are the symbols of the guardians of the Medium, the children of Skaia." Blake explained, as he lead the others to the sacred rune at the back of the shrine.

"That symbol that appeared on your chest, it is the Symbol for the one who will control the very stars themselves, mah boy." Windsor explained.

"Do what?" Henry asked.

"Why control the very fabric of Space itself of course." Blake translated, as Collin gripped his chest.

"I can control the fabric of reality?" he asked, an awed tone in his voice.

"But what about these others?" Maria asked, looking at the 11 other symbols.

"They are supposed to be the elements wielded by the chosen heroes of the other planets in the Medium. "

"What is this one?" Collin asked, pointing to the one that was a circle with three wavey tails sticking out of it in a triangular pattern.

"That is the symbol of the Hero of Mind, the hero who can formulate incredible tactics with uncanny foresight and wisdom. If this pattern is any indication, than that person should have a relation to you, in a…hrm…dominating…sort of way" Windsor commented.

"And the others?"

"Going clockwise we have Blood, Void, Doom, Rage, Time, Breath, Light, Life, Hope, and Heart. These are the aspects that power the universe" He explained, as he ran a paw over the engravings.

"So Alvaro is the hero of Mind." Collin whispered to himself, as Henry walked over.

"Which I guess makes Alex the hero of Blood and Carlos the Hero of Void." Henry continued, before looking back at the carving. "But who are the others? "

Pondering this, Collin grabbed his iPhone and messaged Alvaro

Collin-Hey, so I apparently found out something interesting

Alvaro-And I got something interesting

We have already seen this conversation

"You guys need to go through your next portal" LinKamina said, as he appeared behind them

"But, we just got reunited with our family" Collin objected, as LinKamina smiled.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of them" he replied

"And we will make sure they do not go hungry" Windsor reassured him, as hiss parents walked over to him.

"Don't worry about us, LinKamina explained your grand quest, and we think you will be able to handle it" his mom said, as she hugged him

"Go win this thing champ" his dad said, giving him a hug

"Now you guys look after each other" Uncle Steve said, as he hugged his children. "And make sure you have Collin's back"

"Don't worry dad, we'll be fine" Henry said, tossing his head

"Yeah, we'll be good" Maria reassure him, as the two walked over to Collin, as they headed through a door to the side of the temple. Their portal was floating in the air there, just beyond the rock.

**Alex**

Alex grabbed a gun from stock area, and made his way back into the base. As he ran passed his fellow officers, who were running in the opposite direction, they tried to call him over to their group to escape. Ignoring their panicked cries for him to join them, he burst back into the barracks. As he ran past the window, he could see the red light of the meteor growing brighter and brighter. Tearing himself away from the window, he continued on.

He made it back to the Alchemiter, and the Target Paper. Holding the gun up, he let out a low sigh, before squeezing the trigger. The bullet rocketed out of the gun, and tore through the center of the Practice sheet. As it flew back out, the bullet had begun to glow white, and continued straight into the wall.

The impact site created by it began to crack, as light spilled out, and engulfed the room. Alex looked around in amazement, as his vision was engulfed.

The meteor hit with a bang, creating a giant shockwave, which spread out from the base, vaporizing everything for 10 miles in every direction.

**Alvaro**

Alvaro ran up the spiral staircase, as he heard the Dragon getting closer and closer. As he looked back, he just had time to dodge its jaws, as he made his way up the final steps.

Alvaro jumped into the hole, as thelight of the portal encompassed him.

PikaSprite jumped in front of the Dragon, and let loose one of his trademark Thunderbolts, destroying the dragon. The grist sailed in after Alvaro, as the Sprite looked on.

**Collin**

Collin and company stood on the edge of the rickety cliff, they looked back at the adults. They nodded, as the three grabbed each other's hands.

As the three let out a sigh of relaxation, they walked to the end of the cliff, where the portal was waiting. Grabbing each other's hands, they crouched, as they felt the old rock beneath them start to fall apart.

Collin, Maria and Henry jumped up into the portal, as the ground fell away underneath them. They covered their eyes as the bright flashes of the portal enveloped their vision.

End Chapter 3


	4. Star Shower

After flying for a few minutes in the Sburb tunnel, the trio were expelled and sent into a free fall

"Oh god we're gonna die!" Henry yelled, as he saw the ground rushing up to meet them

Grabbing a ring from his belt, Collin slammed it onto his finger, and held it to his chest

"Connect, PLEASE!" it called, as a rune ring appeared below them. Once all three had vanished into it, it vanished, only to reappear five feet off the ground.

"POOF" all three landed in a powdery white substance, which was smearing on their clothes.

When Collin realized they weren't dead, he pulled himself out of the frozen snow, as he looked around. The entire landscape seemed like a winter wonderland. There was white fluffy snow everywhere, and strange, angular objects in the distance. As Maria lifted herself up, she was disgusted to find some of the snow had landed in her mouth. However, she soon realized it tasted familiar...

"Why is it so cold here?" Henry asked, as he poked his head out of the snow

"Don't know, maybe Alvaro likes winter?" Collin asked, as he gripped his shoulders in an effort to stay warm

They looked up to see that Maria had scooped up a ball of snow, and was eating it

"EW!" Henry cried out, as Collin looked on in disgust

"Maria, you catch snowflakes, not eat a pile of it like it was-"

"Ice cream!" Maria called out in joy

"Wha-?" they asked, tilting their heads

"This isn't snow, its ice-cream!" Maria yelled in triumph, as she grabbed more.

"No way" Collin said in wonder, as he grabbed some in his hand. Tasting some, he found that, sure enough, it was Vanilla ice-cream

Amazed, Collin stood up and began to look around the world, when he heard screaming above him. Looking up, his eyes went wide at what he saw

**Alvaro**

Alvaro was growing tired of just flying through the portal, as the lights and sounds were starting to give him a headache. However he was lifted out of his doldrums when the bright flash of the exit portal enveloped him, as he exited the flume. He saw he was still in the white landscape, though there were three dark shapes on the ground, and he was falling towards one of them. Within a few seconds he was crashing into the largest spot, which cushioned his fall. As he got out of the snow, he saw the other two spots on the ground were actually people. One was a brown haired boy, wearing blue jeans and a navy blue shirt. The other was a girl, who had long blue/ purple hair. She was taller than the boy, and was wearing a black hoodie with the Hyrule symbol on it, and jean shorts.

"Uh, who are you guys?" he asked

"I'm Henry, this is my sister" the boy replied

"Maria, and that's our cousin you just flattened" the girl replied, pointing to the ground. Looking down, Alvaro saw there was in fact another person lying there. He was about Alvaro's age, and was wearing a "Back to the Future T-shirt and Jeans. Alvaro just stared in awe as the teen got up out of the snow. The two friends stared at each other, finally face to face.

"Collin"

"Alvaro"

Alvaro smiled, as did Collin, until Alvaro felt something heavy hit him in the back of the head

"That's for always beating me at Pokemon! AND YuGiOh! Oh, and for crashing into me" Collin shouted, as he whaled on Alvaro with his KeyBlade

"Bonk" "Bang" "Crash" "That's-Gotta-Hurt!"

"Wow, they are actually in a cartoon dust cloud" Henry said, impressed, watching the two fight

"Shouldn't we help him?" Maria asked

"Who, Collin? I think he's got this under control" Henry moaned, as Maria rolled her eyes

"No not him, Alvaro!" She said as she smacked her brother upside the head, as the dust began to settle

"Easy!" Henry said, as he grabbed Collin's arm

"Dude, what the hell!? I thought we were friends!?" he yelled, as Maria helped him to his feet

"Oh, we are, I just had to get that out of my system" Collin announced smugly, as Alvaro's face went into "cartoon-stunned" mode

"Wow you are odd" Alvaro commented, before Collin became angry again

"No one calls me odd and gets away with it!" He shouted, ready to pounce, when Henry grabbed him again

"This will be a long road trip" he mumbled, as Maria dragged Alvaro along behind them

**Alex**

Alex groaned, as his vision returned to him. He looked around to see that everything looked the same. He then bent down to pick up the gun he had dropped, when he heard a low growl. Alex looked up in shock to see that the Cheetah was now staring right at him, licking its lips

"Oh this does not look good" Alex whimpered, as the Cheetah crouched low

"Please don't" he began to panic, as the Cheetah kicked off with its back legs, and started running right at him

"NO!" Alex cried out, when suddenly a yellow light appeared. It was his Sprite!

The samurai drew its sword and held it at the ready, as the Cheetah leaped into the air. It collided with the armor, and was absorbed by it. The Sprite began flashing, as it spasmed. Arms and fur suddenly began growing between the pieces of armor, as the face guard of the helmet peeled back, revealing the face of a cheetah

"Why I do so apologize for that my dear boy-nyan" The Sprite said as it dusted itself off, and offered a hand, or in this case, paw to Alex

"You can talk now?" He asked, as it helped him to his feet

"Oh my yes, this Sprite power has improved my intellect almost tenfold-nyan"

"Wow you are awesome!" Alex commented, as the Sprite smiled

"Well, I believe we must now get down to business-nyan" the cat said, as he floated close to the Alchemiter

"Oh right, so what should I make?" Alex asked, as the Sprite thought it over

"Well, a weapon that would fit your personality, something your proficient with-nyan" he replied

Thinking it over, Alex looked at the gun he was still holding

"Why do I need to make something, I have all the weapons I could ever need right here" He said with realization, as he made his way to the armory

"Um, do you even know how to take care of those weapons-nyan?" he asked

"Um, yeah, I'm in the military, of course I do" Alex replied, forcing the doors of the weapon stockade open. As he made his way down the aisle, he kept picking up different guns and gun parts, unsure of what to use

**Collin**

"Look dude, I said I was sorry" Alvaro apologized again, as he walked behind the three Martins

"I know" was all Collin would reply, not even looking back

"You do know that YOU are the one that attacked HIM, right?" Maria asked, as Collin shrugged

"Yep" Collin said, as Alvaro rolled his eyes

"Well, maybe if you would've tried using a strategy or two, you could have won more often" he replied, as Collin whipped around to face him, holding his KeyBlade

"I do have a strategy, _attack_" he replied, as he turned back around

"He doesn't like people being better than him" Henry informed Alvaro, as he sighed

"Yeah, I got that" he replied. As he walked behind them, Alvaro kept trying to figure out whether Collin really was angry at him or not, when he saw a bright flash of light head straight for Collin

"Look out dude!" Alvaro yelled, as he tackled Collin to the ground. Above them an explosion went off. Collin opened his eyes, not realizing he had closed them. Alvaro was lying down on top of him. Collin felt his face burning, when he realized he really couldn't breathe.

"Dude, you're crushing me" Collin wheezed, as Alvaro picked himself up

"Oh, sorry dude" he apologized, as he climbed off Collin

"...Well I didn't say get off" Collin pouted, as Alvaro helped him up

Looking up, Collin saw a strange shadow fly away

"Did that look familiar?" Alvaro asked, squinting his eyes

"Kinda, but I'm not sure" he responded, when he noticed Alvaro was still holding his hand, which had begun to heat up

"Oh" he apologized, pulling away

"We better get out of here, lest that thing returns" Collin commanded, as his cousins nodded. They then set off at a quickened pace. Alvaro turned to follow then when he tripped over something.

Alvaro looked down, as he saw something red shining under the Ice Cream. Digging in (literally and figuratively,) he was stunned, as he pulled out a giant red stone

"Alvaro! Hurry up!" Collin called out, as the teen was mesmerized by the stone.

"Oh, right, coming!" he called out, as he stuffed the stone into his backpack. As Alvaro ran after the group, he felt the wind begin to pick up.

"Looks like a Blizzard is coming! We have to get out of the open!" Henry called, as he ran forward.

"Henry wait!" Collin called out, as he and Maria ran after him.

"Here's a cave, we can camp in here" Henry called out, as Alvaro finally caught up with the group. They managed to get into the cave, just in time for it to be covered over by the Ice Cream blizzard

"Man that was close" Henry sighed, as he slid down the wall of the inner cave.

"Looks like that Weebaloos training paid off, huh?" Maria asked, as Henry shot her a dirty look

"So, I guess we're stuck in here for the night" Collin proclaimed, as he sat down on a rock

"Geez its cold in here" Alvaro grimaced, as he wrapped his hoodie around himself, obviously freezing.

"What are we gonna do for heat?" Maria asked, as she shivered in the cold

"Master boy scout?" Collin asked his other cousin, who reluctantly got up

"It's not that hard" he grumbled, as he sat in the center of the cave, and grabbed a few pieces of wood that were laying around. After setting a small pile up, he began to rub two of them together, until a small flame grew out of them, and spread to the rest, creating a cozy fire

"There, now I am done with playing Boy Scout" he said, as he retreated to his edge of the cave

"Well, what do we do now?" Collin asked, as he and Alvaro sat before the fire

"We could sing Campfire songs, like Spock did!" Maria chimed in, as Henry glared at her

"I could not believe you would even bring that up" he snarled, as she glared back at him

"Here, I think I found something earlier" Alvaro said, trying to defuse the situation

Collin looked over at Alvaro, just as the guy bent over, and Collin saw his butt exposed over the tops of his jeans. Collin's eyes were frozen for a few seconds, before he returned to his senses. His face burned red and he quickly turned away, though he slightly regretted it

"Here, this is what I fou-you ok dude?" Alvaro asked, sitting up, noticing Collin was blushing

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, it's just-What did you find?" he stammered

"Oh, well, it was this strange crystal" he replied, handing over a red crystal to Collin. It looked like Amberillium.

"Look's kinda like what I use to fight" Collin added, as he looked at the Connect Ring on his finger. "I'll send it to LinKamina and see what he can do with it"

"Connect, _PLEASE_" He held the ring to his chest, then up in the air, as the circle of runes appeared again.

"LinKamina, here!" Collin called into the circle, as he chucked the stone into it

"BONK" came from the portal, as the stone landed on something

"Hey, watch it!" The Sprite called, as his head poked out of the portal.

"Sorry" Collin apologized

"I'll get to work on this stone soon, in the mean time you have leveled up enough for me to give you this" he replied, as he tossed something to Collin. Catching it, Collin saw it was a necklace. Hanging from the string was a small gem, with the spiral pattern of Sburb carved into it

"With that, you can summon me wherever you are" he explained, before vanishing back into the ring, causing _it _to vanish.

Collin glanced over at Alvaro, and saw he was still wrapping his arms around himself, still cold.

"You know Alvaro, if you're still cold, we could _share_ our body heat" Collin offered, glancing out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, no thanks dude" Alvaro replied, as he curled up at the edge of the cave, as Maria and Henry were unrolling the sleeping bags that Aunt Ginny had been sure to make them pack.

"Smooth" Maria mocked, tossing one to Collin, before tossing one to Alvaro.

"Oh hush" he retorted

"Just cause you're gay doesn't mean you can hit on every guy you see" she criticized, as he tossed a glob of ice cream at her

"Fine" she retorted, going to sleep

As Maria awoke, she saw she was back in her bedroom, except it was gold in color.

"Huh, looks like this dream again" she said to herself, and she looked down at her clothes. She was wearing the strange golden pajamas; a golden night dress with a gold long sleeve shirt over it. A golden Crescent moon decorated it. As she walked to the window out of her room, she looked around to see that instead of in her room back on earth, she was on the top of a very tall spire. Sprawling beneath the tower was a giant golden city. She could never tell if it was just gold in color, or actually made out of the precious metal.

As she flew to the window, she looked out to see five other spires outside. Each had a bedroom at the very top. Jumping out the window she observed that she still retained that ability to fly she always had in these dreams.

"I don't know why I'm surprised by this, it happens every time" she said to herself, as she floated all throughout the sky

As she flew throughout the city, she saw the denizens of the planet going about their daily routines. They all were snow white skinned, and wore garb of blue, green and pink hues. They all looked up at her and waved

"It's like this every time" she said to herself, when she spotted something on the horizon. As she looked up, she could see the giant blue sun

"How strange, that almost looks like the same blue sun from the Medium she thought, as the moon she was on passed into the atmosphere of the sun. But Maria wasn't afraid. This had happened every night, since she turned 12. As she looked at the sky, she saw white fluffy clouds float all around the planet. To her non-surprise, she saw images form in the clouds. These were the visions she had had that allowed her to help the guys into the game. She continued to watch the clouds, until she began to feel sleepy...

**Alex**

Alex ran down the aisle, grabbing more and more parts, until he found a heavy steel door in the back of the armory. The words "Top Secret" were emblazoned upon it

"Wonder what's in here?" he asked himself, as he tried to pry the door open

"You know that's not going to work, right-nyan?" Cheetor Sprite asked, as he finally caught up with the boy

"Yeah, I kinda figured. Don't suppose you can open it?" Alex asked, as the Sprite nodded. Moving out of the way, Alex marveled as a beam of light shot out of the cat's eyes, and tore the door off its hinges. Immediately an alarm started to blare

"And that would mean something, it there was anyone else around to stop me" he muttered, as he shot the alarm, shorting it out. Sitting in the middle of the room was an impressive looking weapon. It was a silver gun, with what looked like a stinger at the end. The grip of the gun had a handle-like apparatus made of spikes, connecting the end of the grip to the barrel of the weapons. Alex carefully approached the pedestal it was kept on, and pressed the release button. The case opened up, as steam poured out. Carefully grabbing the weapon, he noticed how the grip seemed to mold itself it fit his hand. He admired the weapon, as he moved it around, before pointing at the wall. He pulled back on the trigger, and fell back in surprise as a blast of energy escaped the nozzle of the gun. It tore a hole through the back wall of the base

"My word, you humans had a weapon that powerful-nyan?" Cheetor asked, as he stared in shock at the hole.

"I guess it's an early prototype" Alex replied, as he got to his feet. He smiled at the gun, when his iPhone began to glow. Pulling it out of his pocket, he saw there was a bright green screen, with a white text box which read

"Declare Weapon?" Thinking it over a few seconds, Alex pressed the "Yes" button. Immediately the phone sent a beam of light out at the raygun, scanning it. Once all the data was read, the green screen went away, only to be replaced by a green card, showing a pixilated image of the raygun, with the word "RayGun-Kind" written at the bottom

"Congrats! You have made your Strife Specibus" a text message said, as the Green card then moved to form a new app.

"Alright, now that you have a weapon, we need to get you to your portal-nyan"

**Alvaro**

As Collin woke up, he noticed the blizzard outside had subsided. He stretched, as the other boys began to wake up. He looked at Maria, who was still asleep

"Hey, Meela!" Collin called, as she slowly began to wake up

"Maria. WAKE UP!" Henry commanded, as he lightly kicked her.

"I think, Carlos doesn't have much time left" Maria announced, as she sat up and punched Henry to the ground

"Then I need to get back to my computer" Collin decided, as he lead them back out.

As they appeared at the mouth of the cave, the group was surprised to see several humanoid objects standing outside.

"Are you, the Rogue?" One asked, pointing toward Alvaro

"Uh..." he replied, as he stepped outside.

As the group walked out of the cavern, they failed to notice the large reptile crawling above the cavern entrance. As they looked around, trying to figure out what the humanoids were, the creature let out a huge roar. Turning around, the four gasped, as the crowd around them dispersed.

The four stood there, shocked by what they saw. Landing in front of them, was a dragon, but not like the Peridot Dragon Alvaro had faced earlier. Nope, this was a very unique dragon

"I don't believe it" Collin whispered, his eyes wide. Standing before them was the Stardust Dragon. Looking like it had just flown straight from the World of YuGiOh 5d's. It's shining white scales glistened in the blue glow of the sun, as its cyan colored chest bulged with every breath. Its long and thin wings flapped slowly in the breeze, as its tail wriggled around.

"It can't be" Alvaro said in awe. The Dragon roared again, when the strange announcer voice appeared again

"STRIFE" it called out, as the Dragon charged at the boys

"You ready?" Collin asked, as he turned to Alvaro, holding his iPhone

"Let's go bro!" he said, as he grabbed the strap on his backpack

"Henshin!" Collin called out, as light shown from his phone, coating him in a sphere of data and magic

Alvaro didn't say anything, as he pulled his hoodie off by the hood, snapped it, turning it into a red cape. He quickly tied it around his shoulders, as he posed. Looking to his left, the sphere began to crack, before shattering, revealing Collin in his Fairy-boy costume

"Dude that took like, 2 minutes" he complained, as Collin shrugged

"Takes a while to do those flips and spinning and crap" he reasoned, as Alvaro sighed

"I never really understood that Magical girl stuff" Alvaro added, as he jumped out of the way. The Dragon swiped its claws at Collin, who grabbed them

"Oh no you don't" he yelled at it, as he held its claws in his hands. Collin was lifted off his feet, as the dragon swung its arm. He couldn't maintain his grip, and was sent flying. Collin flailed through the air for a few moments, before he was able to use his wings and righten himself. As he spun around, the dragon shot a blast of cosmic energy at him

"Time to bring the Hammer down!" Alvaro shouted, as he ran to Stardust and swung down. However, the Dragon was ready, and whipped his tail around, knocking him away

"Nice try dragon" Alvaro said, as he had grabbed onto the Dragon's tail, and was holding it still

"Now Collin!" he shouted, as Collin leapt at Stardust's head. Collin swung the KeyBlade at Stardust, only for the dragon to swing its head around. This sudden impact caused the KeyBlade to break in half. Collin was scared as he saw the pieces fall into the Ice Cream

"OH SHIT!" Collin cried out, as he ran as fast as he could away from the Dragon

"Wait, isn't Collin supposed to bring Carlos in? like now?" Henry asked, as he looked at his watch

"Oh my gosh, you're right!" Maria panicked, as she looked at the fight

"Uh, Collin, you might want to let Alvaro take this one!" she called, as Collin fluttered by

"Why?!" they both asked, as Alvaro was flat on his back

"Cuz you have to bring Carlos into the game, like now" Maria replied, as Collin himself began to panic

"Oh shit, you're right!" he said, as he flew down to where they were.

"Alvaro, try to hold it off as long as you can, I'll be right back!" Collin called, as he put the connect ring on his finger

"Wait, what?" he asked, as Collin held it up to his chest

"Connect, PLEASE" the portal appeared before them. Maria and Henry jumped into it, as Collin was about to. However, the Dragon had grabbed him by his foot, and pulled him back into the fight, causing the portal to close.

The two found themselves back in Collin's room, on the Alchemiter, as the door to the room burst open

"Maria, Henry! What are you guys doing here?" Collin's dad asked, as they appeared in the door

"Well Collin is supposed to bring Carlos into the game now, to complete the link, but he's a little tied up now" Maria replied

"Tied up with what?" his mom asked

"A Dragon" Henry replied, as the adults looked at each other slightly panicked.

Maria turned the laptop on, and quickly made her way to a classified military site.

"What are you hacking into _now_?" Henry asked, looking over her shoulder

"A NASA satellite, I need to know how long 'till Carlos' meteor impacts" she replied, entering more furious keystrokes. The screen suddenly switched to a picture of the earth, and showed several meteors that were about to enter earth's atmosphere

"It looks like Carlos has about ten minutes before the meteor enters earth's atmosphere" Maria responded

"Oh jeez, Collin's not gonna win in time!" Henry gasped, looking at the Laptop.

"Then I'll have to bring Carlos in" Maria said matter-of-factly, as she sat down in front of the laptop

"Who says you get to?" Henry asked, trying to grab the Sburb disk

"Uh, I do" he replied, grabbing it back. She slipped it into the laptop, as the screen seemed to flicker lavender and slate for a second, before returning to normal.

Wasting no time, Maria quickly signed into Skype.

Maria-Carlos, this is Collin's cousin, Maria

Carlos-hey hay Chiquita!

Maria-His _15-year-old_ cousin

Carlos-oh, whoops

Maria-Yeah, anyway, Collin's supposed to bring you into the game right now

Carlos-Yeah, where is he?

Maria-He's a little busy right now

Carlos-Bt there is a big rock falling right on my head!

Maria-I know, and I'm gonna try to bring you in instead

Carlos-You?

Maria-What, you have a problem with a girl being able to do things for herself?

Carlos-Uh, no

Maria-Then why are you stalling?

Carlos-Cause you didn't sign up for Sburb, so how do you have a Server disk?

Maria-Oh, that. I'm just substituting for Collin, I'm using his laptop and his disk, so there shouldn't be an issue

Carlos-Oh, ok then, let's get this on

Their screens lit up with that Sburb loading screen, before Maria saw the menu screen with Carlos' apartment on it.

Wasting no time, Maria began dragging each of the Sburb items into Carlos' apartment, careful of the puppies which were running around. Within a few seconds, she had everything placed, and began directing Carlos on what to do. He jump over the machine, and kicked the top off with his foot. The Sprite and totem flew out instantly, which were both candy red. She watched as he brought the totem to the lathe, carved it, then brought it back to the Alchemiter. As the arm was reading the totem, she turned around as Henry's shout broke her concentration.

"Hey LinKamina!" Henry called, as the sprite appeared in the room

"What's up? I've almost got Collin's new ring ready, can it wait?" he asked

"Not really, he's fighting a giant dragon, and his weapon broke" Henry explained

"Whoa that is bad" The Sprite replied, as he thought it over

"Think you could go to the fight and get me his KeyBlade pieces and his iPhone?" Henry asked, as the Sprite nodded

"No problem" he vanished in a flash of light, as Maria turned to him

"What are you planning on doing?" Maria asked, as Henry pulled knife out of his pocket.

"Something amazing" he replied, a sly smile on his face.

**Collin**

Collin dodged out of the way, as his necklace glowed. He watched as LinKamina emerged from it

"Oh thanks dude, I could use some help here" Collin told the Sprite, who smiled nervously

"Actually, I just came to collect these" he said, as he collected the broken KeyBlade Pieces.

"Oh, and to borrow this" he added, grabbing Collin's iPhone from its holster

"Wait, what?" Collin asked, as LinKamina smiled, before vanishing into the necklace again

"What the hell!?" Collin yelled after him, as he felt Stardust's tail slam into him

**Carlos**

Carlos was slightly intimidated by all the equipment that had been placed in his apartment. However, he pushed those fears out of his mind, as he watched the Crystal being carved. As he turned around, he saw the un-prototyped Kernelsprite floating there

"I need something to put into it" he thought aloud, as he looked around his place. His eyes fell on a particular poster

"Well, I guess it'll have to do" he reasoned, as he tore the poster of a shark off the wall. He held it up to the Sphere, which quickly accepted it. Lines began to draw themselves over the sprite, until the formed a picture of a shark's head.

Carlos quickly turned back around when the machine began to beep. Carlos turned around, to see a flash of red light. Standing on the Platform was mini-garage. As Carlos moved closer to it, a chain shot out of the garage door, and wrapped itself around his right arm. Carlos tried to pull away but the chain was too strong for him. He thought he heard the Skype chime going off, but put it out of his mind as he heard the low rumble of the rock entering the lower atmosphere.

"Oh god, I'm not gonna make it in time!" he screamed, as the light outside his window turned red. Sweat began to fall from his brow, as he struggled against the chain. However, the links just would not break. He turned around, and saw his puppies were cowering under the coffee table, whining their hearts out

"No, I won't let it end this way!" he shouted, tears falling from his face, as his muscles seemed to let go of their inhibitors, and Carlos felt the chain shatter. The metal fragments seemed to melt into his apartment, as light flowed into the place, coating the entire apartment. Carlos watched as his vision blurred, just before his apartment vanished. Just in time too, as his meteor finally impacted, destroying the apartment complex in the process.

**Back at the Martin House**

LinKamina reappeared in a flash of light, as he handed the requested items to Henry. Nodding in thanks, Henry turned to the equipment, as LinKamina took his leave. Without saying a word, henry absorbed the KeyBlade Handle into the iPhone by taking a picture of it, and did the same with his knife

"Collin needs a better weapon than that lame Key" Henry said, as he placed the card holding the handle of the KeyBlade in the Punch Designix. He typed the code in, as the holes were punched in the card. Removing it, he placed the Knife card in as well, punching that code

"Time to make him something totally awesome" Henry commented, as he placed both cards into the Totem lathe, and carved a new Dowel. He took the dowel back to the Alchemiter, and let the machine do its magic.

"Think that'll work?" Maria asked, as Henry let out a sigh

"It'll have to work" he replied, as his sister turned back to the computer. She was surprised, as her screen was now showing that Carlos and his apartment were in a vast forest, having been turned into a tree house.

"What happened?" she whispered, as she rested her chin in her hand.

**Collin**

His lungs were burning, and his muscles ached. There wasn't much more Collin could take of this. He forced his eyes open as the Dragon advanced on him, its fangs bared.

Suddenly, his necklace began to glow, as LinKamina appeared. He sliced with his sword, causing Stardust to retreat

"What? Again man? What else do you want?" Collin asked as the sprite shook his head. He grabbed Collin's hand, and placed his iPhone in it.

"We're all done with it" LinKamina answered, as Collin looked at his inventory

"Oh, and you may find a little something extra added" he winked, as Collin saw a new Ring had been added.

"Ok now, this is a strange Ring" LinKamina prefaced, as Collin downloaded it. As it appearified in his hand, he saw it definitely looked different. It was more like a typical ring, oversized silver casing, but with an oval ruby set in the center. There was a silver and glass bar going across it, forming a mask-like illusion.

"Whoa, the Flame Dragon ring?" he asked himself, as he placed it on his left hand. Holding it to his chest, he heard it call out

"**Flame, DRAGON" **"Bō, Bō... Bō, Bō, Bō!" his chest shouted, as fire began to circle his fist, before spreading to the rest of his body. The color on his shirt began to glow, when the pattern suddenly shifted, from a spiral, to a more, "Flame" pattern. Fire engulfed his shoulders and back, creating a leather jacket. The purple lines on his pants were changed to red, as the fire spread to his feet. His shoes were enlarged, turning them into steel-toed Boots. The gauntlet on his right arm was vaporized, and replaced with a series of belts. Chains wrapped their way around his left bicep. His hair caught on fire, as it spiked up. The wings burned up, and enlarged also, turning them into fire-patterned wings. The fire slashed over his eyes, creating a pair of sunglasses, styled after the visor on the ring.

The fire finally died down, revealing Collin in all his punk glory

"Huh? No armor? Just Punk Clothes?" he asked, slightly disappointed he wasn't wearing the armor of Kamen Rider Wizard's Flame Dragon Style. Also, his muscles and breathing felt fine, as he saw from his iPhone that his health had been restored.

"Maybe we should get back to fighting?" Alvaro asked, as Collin stopped looking at his clothes and the ring

"Oh, right" he answered, as he ran at Stardust. Kicking at the ground, his new fairy wings began to flutter, and he was able to fly up to the dragon much faster and smoother.

"Take this!" he called out, as his hand was engulfed in flames. Bringing it down on the dragon, it left a good sized welt.

"Alright, let's keep this up" he said, as he charged his foot with fire, and kicked into the air, performing a roundhouse kick on the dragon. He left a good burn mark on the reptile's hide, and saw his iPhone project its health bar, which had only gone down by a fraction of an inch

"Shit" he cursed, as he took to the air to avoid its fire attack

"Man, punches and kicks won't cut it" Collin growled, as the dragon took flight again. Suddenly, Collin's necklace began to glow, _again_. Only this time, two objects emerged from it. Apparently LinKamina could also transport people through it, as Maria and Henry were now back on the battle field.

"Collin! Here!" Maria shouted, as she grabbed his new KeyBlade, and tossed it to Collin. Without effort, Collin was able to grab it in midair, as it passed his face. The KeyBlade looked like a Katana, with golden spiked grips enclosing the handle. The shaft of the weapon was a Katana blade, with a half ring of gold spikes forming the "Teeth" of the weapon. The KeyChain held a more box-like ring, which had a black spiked edge, and a solid gold enter, which had a lion-like carving on it

"The Beast Engage Ring" Collin muttered to himself, as he spun it around

"I figured you could use a better one" Henry answered, shrugging

"You were right" Collin called back, as he leapt into the air, and smacked the dragon. It recoiled in shock, with a giant slash mark over its left shoulder

"Alright!" Collin cheered, as Alvaro retreated to the rock Maria and Henry were hiding behind

"You ok man?" Henry asked, as Alvaro gripped his right side

"Yeah, just some, cracked ribs, give me some time to heal" he wheezed, as he one of the creatures stepped forward. As Alvaro's vision cleared, he saw it was a strange robot, which seemed to be like a transformer, if it had scanned a barrel as its alt mode.

"Don't move" it replied, in a slightly child-like voice. It held out a strange plant, which looked like a jet black Fern leaf. He crumpled it up, and tossed it onto Alvaro. The leaf fragments seemed to fade into his skin, as all his injuries healed

"Whoa, thanks dude!" Alvaro said, as the robot ran back to safety

Collin watched in frustration as the slash on the dragon began to heal itself.

"Shit, isn't there any way to get this thing?" he growled through clenched teeth.

"Attach the Flame Ring to your KeyBlade! That'll get him!" LinKamina called out over Skype, as Collin looked down at his weapon. Holding it up, he removed the Engage ring, and replaced it with the Flame Dragon Ring

"**Flame, Dragon!**" it called out again, as the flames enveloped the KeyBlade. When the fire died down, Collin's jaw dropped. The KeyBlade had completely transformed. It now had a circular grip, made out of black metal with black spikes around it. The blade was now a plume of fire, which ended in a circular ring of fire

"Whoa, it's become the FROLIC FLAME KeyBlade!" He said in amazement, as he started to circle around Stardust, and slashed with his new-new KeyBlade, a wave of fire was launched out of it, slashing through Stardust

"I always wondered what would happen if I did this" Collin asked himself, as he brought the hoop at the end to his face, and blew into it. A giant ball of fire flew out of the hole, and headed straight for Stardust. Once it connected with his face, it exploded in a giant fireball

"Wow, that is so much better that what I thought was going to happen" He said to himself,

**Alex**

As Alex pocketed his new RayGun, he saw there was another containment device in the base. Pressing the "Lock open" button on it, he saw the steam inside dissipate, to reveal a shield. It was pure silver, just like the RayGun had been. As he picked it up, he was careful of the two spikes on the top. The shield was strangely heart shaped. As he looked it over, he saw that there was a green card underneath it. He picked it, and saw it said "Shield-Kind" on it. It was quickly absorbed into his phone as the shield vanished, before reappearing on his left arm

"Cool" he commented, before he ran back outside. As he walked back into the blue sunlight, he saw there were now a bunch of shadows on the tarmac.

**Collin**

Getting entirely fed up with this creature, Collin gripped the Flame Dragon ring, and flicked the Visor up

"Come on a Slash, Let's rock! Flame _DRAGON_!" the Ring called out, as the fire plume blade came to life, and unrolled, turning into a whip. "Bō, Bō... Bō, Bō, Bō!"

"Eat this!" Collin shouted, as he swung downward, slicing the fire whip through the dragon

Collin slammed the KeyBlade down, striking down Stardust. The beast spasmed, before he finally collapsed

Collin let out a sigh of relief, as fire engulfed him, then vanished, returning him to his normal clothing.

"**Congratulations, you have leveled up to 'Dragon Slayer'! Eat an entire cake to celebrate"** the Text message stated, as Collin saw the boondollar count on his phone go up

"Hey, check and see what he's got on him" Alvaro called, as Collin remembered killing the dragons in Skyrim to get awesome loot. Collin walked over to the dragon and touched it's scales. Suddenly, a text box appeared before him, and displayed various boon, which he Captchalogued all of.

"Ok, so that's 10000 Build Grist, 75 Amberillium, 579 Boondollars, and this strange, green crystal" Collin called back, grabbing the loot

However, he wasn't prepared for what happened next. Turning around, Collin was struck by a huge gust of cosmic energy, which seemed to infuse into his body

"Are you ok man?!" Alvaro asked, as he rushed to Collin's side

"Yeah" Collin replied, rubbing his head

"That was some attack" Maria said, as she helped him up

"Dude, I think you absorbed its soul, just like a Dragonborn!" Alvaro said, going into full fanboy mode

"You think so?" Collin asked, as he placed a hand on his chest

"Dude, try and shout!" Henry commanded, as the three stepped back

"Oh, right, ok, here goes!" Collin said, as he took deep breath

"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGG GGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH" he cried out, until he had to catch his breath

"Impressive pipes, but not exactly a Fus Ro Dah" Alvaro offered, as Collin panted. Suddenly, they became aware that they were being watched. As they looked around, several figures began to rise up from the snow.

**Alex**

Crawling around the planes and tanks and jeeps, where what Alex could only guess to be Imps. They were wearing Samurai armor, having gained the prototyping.

"Good thing the Cheetah didn't get prototyped then" he whispered, as the creatures crept closer

Alex looked out at the field of Imps, which were infesting the Tarmac. Alex grabbed the RayGun in his pocket, and fired at the nearest imp. It left a smoldering crater where the creature had been

"Wow that _is_ powerful-Nyan" Cheetor commented, as Alex's eye's narrowed.

"Let's go!" he called, as he ran towards the Imps, and fired precise strikes, hitting each one. He catapulted off the car seat of a jeep, jumping over more imps, blasting them. As he landed, he held the trigger down, and saw energy build in the weapon. Whipping around, he let go of the trigger, releasing a large laser drill, which obliterated the imps.

As Alex looked up, he saw the golden gate hovering in the air.

"How am I supposed to reach that?" he asked, as he blasted some more imps

"Well, your Client player should build up your entry domicile, to create a stair case to it-Nyan" the sprite replied, scratching his chin. Wasting no time, Alex pulled out his iPhone, and sent a message to Carlos

Alex- Hey, need your help man

However, after about three minutes, it became apparent that Carlos was NOT going to answer

"Oh crap" Alex observed

"You have to go through your portal, it is the only way for the game to progress-Nyan" the sprite commanded, as he pointed to the gate. Looking around, Alex began to think of a plan, when his eyes rested upon the armory once more.

"There were rumors..." he whispered, as he began walking toward it again

"What are you doing-nyan?"

"Something awesome!" Alex called back.

**Collin**

Collin and Alvaro readied their weapons, as they watched the figures rise up, but were taken aback when they began to cheer. They looked around, as they saw that each of these figures were robots. They were robots of all shapes, sizes, and varieties, ranging from just being from popular media, to completely original designs.

"You defeated the creature that had been terrorizing our land!" They all called out, as they began to celebrate

"Wow, guess we finished your first boss fight Alvaro" Collin commented, as the teen looked around sheepishly

"What's wrong?" he asked

"You defeated it, I just hid behind a rock and licked my wounds" he pouted. Smiling in a bemused way, Collin moved to hug Alvaro.

"Dude" he objected, trying to pull away

"Hey, it's a guy hug, just take it" Collin explained, as Alvaro smiled back and rolled his eyes

"Fine" he replied, accepting the hug

"Sorry to cut this beautiful moment short, but we have another gift for Collin" Maria interrupted, as the two broke away.

"Here, we alchemized you some new clothes" Henry added, as he held up a Captchalogue card

"How much grist have you been using?" Alvaro asked, as the kids looked around nervously, avoiding the question. Maria noticed Collin was apprehensive about activating the Style change

"Don't worry dude, _I_ made that mostly, and I made it out of fanart you had lying around" she said with a wink.

Giving in, Collin placed the card in his iPhone, and pressed the "Style Change" button that appeared. Instantly his old clothes were phased off, to make way for these new ones

His blue jeans returned, as a long sleeved white shirt grew over his torso. Then a grey shirt with a checker pattern grew over that. Pink Light circled around his neck, before it was revealed to be a scarf, which hung over his chest. Pink light also circled part of his hair, and created a short "pony-tail"-thingy on the side of his head. Pink light enveloped his head, and created a black fedora with a white stripe. His sneakers stayed the same

"Wow, this is awesome! Thanks guys!" Collin said, as he looked over his new wardrobe

"Oh yeah, that's the look of an anime hero" Alvaro teased, as he nudged Collin

"Um, if I may be of some help?" one of the robots asked, as it approached the group. Alvaro saw that is was the same robot that had healed him earlier.

"Who are you?" Collin asked, as the robot bowed

"My name, is Bobbie, a pleasure to meet you" he responded.

"What kind of help?" Alvaro asked, patting the robot on the shoulder

"I believe there is a phenomenon you all must use on your journey, if the ancient prophecies are true" he answered

"You mean the portal?" Collin asked, as he nodded

"Well what are you waiting for? Take us there!" Maria cheered, as the crowd cheered as well.

The robots lead the group up to a large spiral structure, which held the portal. But unlike the others, this was two portals overlapping. One was shamrock green, the others was cobalt blue.

The ground suddenly shook under the four, as the realized they were on an elevator.

"This will take you straight up to the portal!" Bobbie called, as they moved out of range. They finally reached the portal, which was at the end of a long walkway

Looking at each other, Collin and Alvaro nodded

Collin and Alvaro ran side by side, then jumped onto the platform, before leaping off and jumping into the portal. Shrugging, Maria and Henry followed suit, as they were sweat up in a whirlwind of light and sound

**Alex**

Alex returned from the armory carrying a clunky object

"What pray tell, is that-nyan?" Cheetor asked, as Alex began to sling it over his back

"A jetpack, I'm gonna fly through that portal" he replied, as Cheetor looked taken aback

Alex strapped the Jetpack to his back, and pressed the take-off button on the wrist controller. He felt the energy explode from the thrusters of his new jetpack, as he was sent hurdling into the sky. He looked upward, as he saw the portal growing closer and closer. However, he felt the thrust on the jet pack begin to give out, as he lost his momentum. And so close too!

Not wanting to fall to his death, Alex ripped the backpack off his shoulders, and spun around, before tossing the jetpack to the ground. This gave him the momentum he needed to enter the pull of the portal.

Jumping up through the portal, Alex was ensnared by the light, and carried off for his first adventure

End Chapter


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